Castaway
by Renz
Summary: "Where do you start when you have to start over?" Tai is long presumed dead, but when a familiar castaway appears six years later, a tale of anger, betrayal and forgiveness begins. Taiora.
1. Land of the Living

CASTAWAY CHAPTER 1: LAND OF THE LIVING 

It had been a warm start to summer in Japan, and the children of Odaiba Primary School had taken it as a very hopeful sign of things to come- namely, the summer holiday, soon to grace the course of their bright young lives. The result, as is the case in schools all over the world, this particular Friday afternoon had been more than a little chaotic. Not very surprising, and even less pleasing to the teacher of the class who had been left to clear up the mess.

And so, twenty year old Kari Takaishi responded in the best possible way that she could, given her situation- leant back in her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. This was, according to the class' normal teacher Mrs Horaki, one of the worst times of the year. She sincerely hoped she was right.

She didn't mind working with children of course, no, it wasn't that. She had willingly made them her career-to-be, but when she accepted the school's offer to let her get some experience here this wasn't exactly what she had had in mind. 

It was her personal opinion that the school's willingness for her to work for them and at this time of year was more than a simple coincidence. Mrs. Horaki must have had enough of a hyper class, and so made the arrangement for a student teacher to escape for a while. All Kari could do now was grin and bear it... But at least they were paying her.

Aside from a new entry for her C.V., it got her much needed money to support herself and her husband whilst he finished off his first book. Takeru had become quite skilled at writing, gaining recognition by writing articles for newspapers and magazines, and was now moving into the realm of novels, using his experience of the Digital Wars as a source of endless ideas. When he was done, they were quite confident that the sales would keep them well financed for quite a long time, and she would be able to concentrate on finishing her course on childcare at university.

But until then, she would have to stick with jobs like this, even if it meant cleaning up all the time.

Kari stood and frowned at some of the scattered chairs, willing them to tidy themselves. When they did nothing, she decided to go with the more realistic option and moved a few back to their places.

"You needn't worry about them dear" someone sad from behind her. She turned to see one of the school's cleaners. "You look worn out, a tough day?"

Kari smiled at her. 

"You might say that," she said, with a lopsided grin. "These kids are going to be the death of me."

"Heh, I don't envy your job. We might have to clean, but at least we don't have to put up with the little monsters!"

"Well, they aren't so bad all of the time. Just depends on what the time is, really."

"I'll believe it when I see it dear. You go on home, I'll finish up here- you look like you could use a rest."

Kari thanked her and picked up her shoulder bag from the large teacher's desk. She departed the classroom after looking briefly out of a window-covered wall. It was a nice room really, built alongside the corridor to the rest of the school. To compensate for how this limited the light that would get in from that direction, the opposite wall was covered with large windows. It gave a free airy feeling, one which she and the children enjoyed.

As she got into her small blue car, and turned her thoughts towards spending her weekend with her husband, she couldn't help but smile. She was going shopping with Sora on Saturday- that was always something to look forward to.

----------

In the east, a young man looked at the fruits of his labour. A small wooden raft- nothing special, but hopefully enough to get him to the mainland. It had taken him six years to get the parts to make it, and a further few months waiting for the right time to try it out. 

The weather had been good for a few days, and as had been shown in the past it remained fairly warm around this time of year. Soon he would have his chance... Soon, the wind would be blowing in the right direction.

It was just a matter of time, and then... Perhaps... He could see them again.

----------

Takeru, known as 'TK' to his friends, smiled at the man across the desk as he handed over some money.

"Thank you, _sir," _The redhead said, "and I hope you enjoy your alcohol and it's yummy goodness!"

"No, thank _you_ for your incredible service! My, were it not for your apron, I would think I was in a top class restaurant!"

Davis laughed at his friend's sarcasm. 

"Yeah, well, just you wait! Soon I'll have enough money to get my own place- somewhere really posh, an' all the rich folks will come and eat my food, and then _I'll_ be rich!"

"Or you'll get a noodle stand or something."

"Hey, whatever goes."

Ever since he left school, Davis had discovered he had quite a talent for cooking (at least for a male, anyway). Being one to brag, he had displayed his superiority over TK in that department as often as he could, and had one day told them all that he had got a job in a top class restaurant. In fact, he had a job on the till in a café, but he didn't need to mention that. Sora had found out soon enough anyway, when she came in to buy a Pepsi.

Besides, it was a nice enough place. Not the best, but better than most: the tables were clean and were arranged neatly, plus the staff were polite. Finally, it was placed right between TK's apartment and Sora's, so it was convenient for meeting up.

It was Davis' goal to work in a fancy place, so he was working here now to get some money stashed for when he needed it, and so far he had been doing rather well.

"So, heard from any of the others recently?" he asked.

TK let out a small sigh. "No, not for a while. It's hard to contact them nowadays, especially Matt- always on tour or recording something. Him and his band..."

"Well if ya ask me, Sora did the right thing getting away from him before he became popular outta Japan. God knows what she would have done, him being away all the time and her in university."

"Yeah, I agree, I suppose. Besides, last I heard, he'd met some nice lady in America."

"Who? The Pink One?"

TK grinned at the nickname.

"No! Mimi isn't a two-timer, and she isn't going to give up Izzy that quick. It's some other girl he met on tour, part of the stage crew I think. She's quite nice too, apparently."

Davis opened his mouth to reply, when a voice interrupted him.

"Hey! I hate to break you guys up, but there IS a queue back here, you know!"

TK looked back at the people behind him, and gave them an innocent smile, before gathering the three cans of beer he had bought for his friend and wife.

"Sorry! Hey, it's good to see you again Davis- perhaps we could meet up one evening?"

"Sure. I should be free next week- you have my number, right?"

"Yep. I'll give you a call then, bye!"

TK turned and headed towards the seating area of the rather large café, where the rest of the group were waiting, a smile on his face. Between writing and his part time job at the local council office, he didn't get too much free time to see his old friends- having a laugh with Davis would make a nice break. He arrived at the table to find Kari and Sora talking about something that had happened the other week at Odaiba Primary.

"The kid did _what?" _Sora said, grinning at her friend from across the table.

"Painted his face! I mean, he really painted it with those poster paints in the big tubes. He thought it would come off easily like the proper face paint does, and when he realised it wouldn't..." Kari paused, laughing a bit with the older woman. "When his mother saw him, she went ballistic! She started to try and wash it off right away, but of course it wouldn't come off!"

TK sat down at his seat and handed out the canned drinks whilst bathing in the warm and friendly atmosphere that had developed around them.

"Bright blue too," he added. Sora popped her can burst out laughing.

"It sounds like something Tai would so," she replied whilst lifting the beer to her lips. As soon as the words had left her mouth, they all paused and fell silent.

Immediately, the carefree air that has been present drained away, leaving one of guilt- most of all, over the oldest of the group.

"I wish he was here," Sora said quietly.

"So do we."

----------

Sora lay in bed, looking up at her ceiling. She didn't know how long she had been there- minutes? Hours? She didn't care, because it didn't matter. All that did was her guilt of her assistance with driving Tai to his depression and departure from this world.

"So, um, Sora, you goin' to the concert with anybody? I mean, not that it matters to me...just wondering."

_"...I wanna be available in case Matt is free afterwards..."_

_"Oh, I see...Matt, huh?"_

Matt…

_"I-It's okay..."_

_"Y-you're not mad at me, Tai?"_

_"No, of course not! Now get in there and say hi to Matt for me!"_

Of course he couldn't be mad. He was their leader! He _couldn't _show any weakness, any sadness, else it might undermine their morale!How could she have been such a fool not to have realised that! And yet, she didn't notice. He appeared happy when she spoke to him, but as time went on, she saw him less and less in favour for Matt…

After he left, at his funeral, Kari had told her how it had been all of them that had destroyed him. How they all appeared to abandon him- how they had failed him, as his friends. Even though she knew that there was no body, she broke down completely at his empty coffin. Because after all had been said and done, she felt something for Matt- yet, it had taken Tai's death for her to realise that she felt something much deeper for him.

Her recent troubles did not help. The clothing business that she had started was not going well, and if she didn't get some more customers soon, she would be in serious financial trouble...

She knew that if Tai were here, he would do something. He would make things okay. Because he always did.

Sora stayed there for a long time, but eventually cried herself to sleep. And, when she did, she felt very cold and very alone.

----------

_"He's depressed TK, I mean really depressed! It's scaring me! What if he goes and does something stupid?"_

_"I know, but surely he wouldn't... He has too much to live for. He has good grades now, so he'll be able to do whatever he wants in life..."_

_"I know, but you know how the others treat him now..."_

_"...yeah, I know. But what can we do? We can't force them to see him if they're busy..."_

_"They're always busy, even Sora and Matt! They were supposed to be his best friends!"_

_"Most likely they are 'busy' with each other."_

_"..."_

"Tell you what, Kari. It's his eighteenth birthday in a couple of weeks, isn't it? How about we get him to come to America about a week after we go, and whilst we're waiting for him to arrive we can set up something to show him that someone cares."

_"Like what?"_

_"How about an enormous-"_

"...party for his retirement dinner, and they invited me to go along!"

TK grinned at his wife over the lasagne that he had cooked especially for her, yet his smile felt false and wooden. She had developed quite a thing for Italian foods over the last few years, and whilst there were many dishes that he disliked, he had to admit that this one was pretty good. Regardless, he would have cooked anything for her right now- heck, he would get Davis to do it if it would help. Kari needed cheering up soon. He hated it when she was depressed.

And it was always for the same reason.

"That's great dear," she mumbled absently over her dinner whilst poking at it with her fork.

He mentally winced as his face dropped. Not even news of his boss' retirement party (whom he rather disliked) had made any effect. Nothing had, since Sora had made that slip up in Davis' café. Sora would be just as bad, but he couldn't stay with her- she had to go home early due to her having the early shift in her mother's flower shop in the morning. They were both going to be thinking about Tai for a while now.

"Kari... You can't go on like this. I know it's hard, I mean, he was a like a role model to me, but he's gone... You have to-

_"-finish packing, else you'll miss your plane."_

_"I have a bit of time. TK and his mother should be here in an hour, so I have till then."_

_"Good. I'm glad that he will be there- He'll look after you. If it were Davis, then I wouldn't even give you a week head start."_

_"You'd better catch up with us soon! I don't want to see all the sights without you around, Tai."_

_"I'll be right behind you."_

_"Maybe you can see Sora before you go?"_

_"Nah. She's been trying to get into uni, so… I don't want to bother her."_

_"She's busy? But... She's been going around with Matt…"_

_"..."_

_"Are you sure you'll be okay?"_

_"..."_

_"Tai?"_

_"...yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm-"_

"-not coming back," he finished, as she blinked and snapped back to the present, though with awfully bad timing.

Kari let out a loud sob, and TK immediately moved around their dinner table to her side. He embraced her as she clung onto him for dear life- crying for her lost brother.

It was a cruel twist of fate that had befallen Taichi. After the wars, the Digidestined had returned home, and over the course of a few months had become reliant on communication through e-mail and such. No longer fighting to protect a world, they had no reason to need a leader- Tai lost his position among them. 

It was no reason to lose their friendship though. He didn't lose it overnight- it faded as the others became more and more involved with each other. Sora's blossoming relationship with Matt was a crushing blow to him. He did his best to carry on and fight his jealousy of the blonde, which he did quite well, but once Jun saw them together she began to (surprisingly) pine for Joe. Mimi came back to Japan a year later, and Izzy stuck to her like glue. Kari had, for the most part, stayed around TK, who had remained in the new group of Digidestined.

The result was that Tai was left alone. He hated that more than anything. It changed him- he became quiet and withdrawn, which Kari found disturbing to say the least. She did her best to keep him company, TK helping whenever he could, but it didn't seem to help much. The leader of the Digidestined became a shadow of his former self, only speaking when he had to, rarely leaving the family's apartment.

It was soon before Tai's eighteenth birthday when TK invited Kari on holiday to America with him. She was worried about leaving her brother, but TK had an idea- how to show him that some people cared about him. A party, to which they would get as many of the Digidestined to go as possible. When they had been told of the state Tai was in, they had all agreed to the idea. They all arrived in America a day or two before, and all prepared a celebration for him, a special eighteenth birthday party.

But the plane... and Tai... never arrived.

Why, they did not know until hours later.

Something had happened, quite what they didn't know, but the plane had gone straight down. By the time rescue teams had arrived, the plane wreck had long since sunk. There were no bodies.

Taichi Kamiya was presumed dead.

Kari had been distraught. She loved her brother, and for him to go so sadly, after being practically forgotten by those whom he was closest to, was devastating. And, two years ago, her parents had died in a car accident, leaving the poor girl alone. She needed support, someone to rely on, and so TK had married her soon afterwards.

Some said that it was form desperation, but Takeru didn't believe so. They were happy, and they had money to set themselves up (thanks to Tai's bank savings being given to them). They had been doing okay, but sometimes she would just fall apart like this...

It truly frightened him.


	2. The Man in the East

CHAPTER 2: THE MAN IN THE EAST 

Days later, a happier Kari glared at a television remote.

An odd thing it is, that all televisions work fine, apart form the ones that are put into schools. Kari was finding that this particular one was no different.

'And to think, I used to LIKE Panasonic…' she thought to herself angrily. The kids were being surprisingly obedient today, and sat at their desks watching the TV with great interest as it buzzed between various channels.

"No, no Miss! You have to press the thingy, and that should make the other menu thingy appear..." said a particularly smart boy named Keitaro. Kari cast him a brief look, and said,

"Which thingy?"

"That one! The- no, the other one!"

She sighed in frustration as Mrs. Horaki moved from her seat at the back of the class and came to the front. She took the remote with a smile.

"Confusing machines, aren't they?" she said, and began to fiddle with the accursed thing.

"I know. I could never get them to work, I always get Takeru to do it, he's much better with that stuff-"

As Kari spoke, the TV became clear as it tuned into one of it's many channels. Both women looked at it absently as it showed the world news, not really paying attention.

"An incredible story of survival was concluded today, when a man who was long thought dead…"

"-so I don't really understand it."

"...for over six years was found in the Pacific Ocean yesterday evening."

"Six years?" Horaki said, suddenly focusing on the screen. "Wow."

"Taichi Kamiya was found..."  
  
Kari's jaw fell.  
  
"...floating on what appears to be a crudely built raft. Reports are sketchy at the moment, but we believe he is sporting various wounds. More on this as details come in."

For a long time, she didn't move at all. Horaki looked at her, wondering... Kamiya? Wasn't that her name before she had married?

The younger girl appeared to be shaking as she continued to stare at the screen, until in a very small voice, she said,

"Tai...?"

Clearly, she was in no state to continue the lesson.

Horaki quickly took her out of the room. Kari blankly followed, as though she was in a trance.

"He's... Alive?"

"Takaishi, the boy on the news, do you know him?"

She stared at her for a long time, before finally whispering,

"He's my brother..."

----------

In the east, a young man leaned back on his cabin bed.

He couldn't believe it- his plan had _worked. _He was alive, and back in civilization. He was certain that he was going to die when the storm had destroyed his raft, but by some miracle, a ship had appeared and lifted him -literally- from the water. 

He had done it. He had survived for God knows how long on an island by himself. He had hunted, he had made shelter, he had made fire, and managed to make quite a mess of himself in the process.

'But, I'm alive,' he reminded himself.

The cabin he had been given wasn't flashy. It was small and cramped, but it was still a great deal better than what he had been in for the past few years- a cave. But when you are forced to live with only the bare necessities and less, you learn to appreciate such things. 

His cave, which had served as his home, was dark and often cold. It had been roughly cut, more of a crack really, burying itself deep into the tall jagged 'hill' that had formed one half of the island. Most certainly, not the nicest of places, but he made do, and it did at least provide shelter against the wind and rain.

This room was a stark contrast. Tai found the clean crisp lines of its décor quite interesting and strangely hypnotising... The layout too, was quite amusing. A simple box, with a door to one side leading to a small bathroom. A set of draws stood near one corner by the front door, with his bed opposite. To anyone else, it would be boring, but not to Tai; he found it fascinating. He'd thought of places like this for so long, they had become close to myth in his mind.

He heard quiet footsteps, then the front door opening. He made no move to acknowledge the presence of whoever had come to see him.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, until he slowly moved his eyes to face the dark haired aging man at the door.

"How are you doing?" the crewman asked. 

He made no response other than continuing to look at him.

"Look, I know you aren't very chatty, but we need to know if you have anywhere to stay once we get into port. Do you have any relatives?"

He remained quiet for a little while longer. Speaking... It was a strange notion for him now. He had hardly said anything in three years. Before that, it had been to imaginary friends, a tactic he had read was useful to ward off boredom. It had worked, until he had realised quite how futile such an idea was.

Words seemed pointless… But he wasn't on his island anymore. He was back in civilization. He had to go back to his old ways.

"Yes," he said. His voice was deep and held a quiet strength, seeming ill suited to someone of his stature. "Two parents..." he paused, "...and a sister."

"Okay, so the Kamiya family... How old is your sister?"

How old was Kari? Well... 

"How long have I been gone?"

"Well... The plane went down... About six, six and a half years ago? About that. I don't know exactly."

Six years? Had it really been that long?

Tai's right hand twitched.

"She will be... Twenty..." he said slowly, moving his gaze to the ceiling. The crewman looked at him sadly.

"Alright. We'll try and get in contact with them. Get some rest, we'll be reaching Japan tomorrow morning, so you can see them again soon. Oh, here are some clean clothes, so you can get out of those rags and get warm."

Tai remained silent as the elder man placed a pile of clothing and boots beside his bed and left. He was caught in a swirl of emotions- anger, shock, fear... Did he want to see them again? Would they cast him aside again?

Did it even matter?

He stared at the ceiling for quite some time.

----------

As the front door to the apartment opened, TK looked up from his laptop's screen with a small frown on his face. It could only be Kari, and she normally didn't come back until late afternoon, but it was still midday.

But upon seeing her appear from the hallway into the living area, it was quite clear to him why she was home so early.

She looked completely freaked out. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she kept sniffing, as though she was about to break down at any moment. Something had happened...

Immediately, TK was on his feet and moving swiftly to her.

"Kari? What's wrong?"

She didn't answer. Suddenly, the phone rang, startling her. Yet, she didn't move towards him, only looked at the ringing object. Her husband understood the unspoken request, and answered it.

"Hello? Listen, this isn't the best of times... What? Yes, I am... She is, why...?"

He looked at her as he listened to the person on the other end of the line. The more he heard, the paler he got.

"Okay... Tomorrow? All right, thank you… Bye."

He hung up, whilst continuing to hold Kari's eyes. His mouth was dry, and his eyes were wide and staring. He couldn't believe it.

He just could not believe it.

"He's alive..." TK whispered. Kari nodded, and leapt forward, quickly closing the gap between them and embracing him tightly. They both let their tears flow.

----------

It was not long before Sora made contact, shortly followed by Davis, who had heard of the story at their workplaces: Sora, on the radio, Davis on the old TV in the corner of the café. 

And, as with TK and Kari, they were rather shocked by it.

It was many things- exciting, terrifying, insane, a relief: to them, Tai had been dead just a few hours ago! It was as if he had just come back to life. They had all immediately taken leave of work and hurried to the Takaishi residence to watch as more information came to light, but as of yet there had not been much new.

All they knew was that he had appeared in the middle of the ocean out of nowhere, holding onto the remains of a wooden raft. The American container ship, the 'Lady May', had spotted him and lifted his unconscious body from the water. No one knew where he had been; apparently he had been reluctant to speak to the ship's crew about it, and as they were the only source to the rest of the world so far, they would have to wait until Tai reached the mainland to know the truth. 

"I don't get it!" Davis cried in exasperation. "How the hell can someone float around for a few years and survive?!" 

"He can't have been in the water for that long," TK answered thoughtfully. "No one can live through that. He must have been washed up on an island somewhere. How else could he get the wood to make a raft?"

Kari, who was currently latched onto her husband for support, hugged him tighter and said in a wavering voice,

"An island? He was all alone on an island for six years...? Oh God! He, he hated being alone!"

"We don't know if he was alone dear... There might have been natives? Who knows? When he gets back, we'll find out."

Sora had remained silent ever since she arrived. She sat with one hand fiddling with the hem of her shirt, the other clutching a mug of hot chocolate. Her eyes were focused straight on the television, watching for any updates with unparalleled zeal. Suddenly, she spoke with a surprisingly calm voice. It was as if the shock had forced all emotion from her.

"...do... Do you think he's alright?"

TK looked at her sadly.

"I don't know... They said he had some cuts and things, but nothing specific."

"No, I mean... Is HE alright? Emotionally?"

He had his doubts, but Takeru being the oldest male in the group had immediately taken it upon himself to be the support point- just like with Kari, all those years ago.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. I mean, this is Taichi Kamiya! Nothing stops him!"

He didn't believe it, but what else could he do? He felt so powerless, yet as long as they could draw strength from his words, then it was okay.

"Yeah... It's Tai, he can do anything. He'll be okay. ...he'll be okay..."

----------

Tai glared at his reflection.

He stood in the small bathroom of his cabin, looking over the sink and into the mirror. In front of him were various toiletries that the older crewman had brought him an hour ago- soap, scissors, deodorant, shaver, it was all there, and he would need to use almost all of it if he were going to be presentable in public again.

It was not that he was really angry with his appearance -being alone for so long had taught him that there was a lot more to things than just how they looked- it was more of a confusion over who exactly he was looking at. It was an incredibly odd experience. He'd seen himself in water occasionally, but he hadn't paid any attention to it...

It was only now though, that he could see clearly how different he was.

His face was tanned, rough, and coursed, the result of the ocean wind and sun. Dirt and grime filled the creases in his skin, making the lines harsher then they should be, and creating the effect of dark patches around his eyes. And his eyes! So dark, so tired, they stared back him and bored into him, all kindness seeming to have died in the brown orbs long ago.

His expression, though he felt it was at ease, was quite a frown. The far sides of his eyebrows seemed to sag downwards, displaying the sadness he felt, and the grim attitude he had developed over the last few years. This had the effect of making his eyes seem a little smaller, but all the more powerful. It was no surprise that the crew of the ship seemed so frightened of him- he was barely even trying, and yet was even intimidating himself with a simple frown. If he gave it his all, he could probably even freak out 'cool man' Matt now. 

With a slight shrug, he ignored the scars that ran along his left cheek, and returned to the task at hand. He picked up a pair scissors and finished cutting back his beard. It had grown incredibly quickly, and without a shaver there was little he could do to stop it. It was annoying at first, mainly because food kept getting stuck in it, but he had learn to live with it.

He continued to cut it until it was just stubble. As much as he had wanted to rid himself of everything that reminded him of the island, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of his beard completely- so he decided to keep a short one, a trophy, almost, of what he had accomplished.

He'd already cut his hair, short how he'd wanted it to be. On the island, he had taken to cutting it with a penknife, which had become a chore (especially once the blade began to get really blunt), so he had developed a preference for it being about three centimetres long- the shorter it was, the longer it would take to grow back. It was now nothing compared to its old length, before this had all started, but it didn't really matter too much. After all, it still stuck up like it used to, so it pretty much looked the same... Only without it's rather large amount of dramatic flair.

Finally, Tai filled up the basin with warm water (which he considered a very pleasing luxury), and began to use it and the soap to clean the dirt from his many wrinkles. Once he had done so, he looked back up at himself to see a man who did not look so harsh, but still quite intimidating. 

A moment later, there was a knock at the cabin door- 'probably that crewman again,' he thought.

He moved to the door and opened it to see his suspicions confirmed, revealing the forty-something year old man's face. The sailor smiled at seeing the ex-castaway.

"Ah good, you've got those clothes on then. Good, they'll keep you warm till tomorrow. We couldn't find your parents, they must have moved or something, but we did manage to get hold of your sister. You will need to go to the hospital first, but once they're finished with you, you can go with her and her husband."

_'Husband?!'_

Tai's expression must have changed, though he did not feel it. The elder man certainly noticed it though.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Husband..." he croaked, "Kari's... Married?"

"Well that's what we were told. I didn't catch his name..."

Understanding suddenly hit the sailor.

"Oh... You didn't know, did you? It must have happened... Whilst you were away, right?"

Tai numbly nodded.

"Don't worry, Mr. Kamiya. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy. And you'll meet him tomorrow anyway, so if you DON'T like him, you can deck him then."

The young man couldn't help but smile at that, remembering his old protectiveness towards his little sister.

"Yes... Tomorrow..." he said quietly, beginning to wonder who else, if anyone, would bother to show up. His right hand twitched.

"Aren't you going to change those?"

Tai looked down at the old strips of once white cloth that were wrapped around his hand. They extended from his knuckles to halfway up his lower arm, imitating a gauntlet. He didn't really need them anymore, the wound had healed about as much as it ever would, but they gave him some sense of comfort. 

"No."

----------

The next morning, the Lady May slowly pulled into Odaiba Harbour. It was ironically graceful for such a massive ship, it's red and white bulk seeming to cut through the water with ease as it sailed towards the port. By the cargo cranes and railway tracks built into the concrete, was the crew access ramp. And at the base of it stood seemingly hundreds of news crews all waiting to catch a glimpse of the boy who had defeated all the odds, and hoping to be the first to hear the story of how he survived. A number of normal people who were simply interested in what was happening were present too, adding to the disorganised mass. Police were with them, sealing off a walkway though them to a patrol car, providing security and a quick way to the local hospital for the returning castaway.

Somewhere in this mass of cameras, reporters and crews stood four young adults, all watching the approaching ship carefully, and reeling in disgust at those who wished to use their friend's predicament to further their own careers and fill their pockets. Still, they watched the ship that carried something far more important to them than the cargo- their old leader. They didn't have to be here, but nothing short of a hurricane was going to take them away, nor deny them the chance to see him again.

To say that Kari, TK, Davis and Sora were nervous was an understatement. They were breathless with anticipation, of seeing him, of hearing him, and of possible forgiveness for what they had done to him all those years ago.

Sora had something else to consider though- hope not only for forgiveness, but a chance to become closer to the one whom she had hurt so deeply. Perhaps she could remedy the mistake she made back then...

Ever so slowly, the ship pulled up to them, with the harbour pilots leading the way. Eventually, it stopped, and was tied to the land by the dockworkers. The boarding ramp was moved into position- a hatch in the side of the container's hull, and a silence fell over the crowd.

The door opened inwards, and a dark-skinned man wearing jeans, a grey sweater and a woollen hat stepped out. He jogged down the gangplank, meeting up with a pair of policemen at the bottom, and began to talk to them quietly.

After a short while, the sailor headed back up the ramp and into the ship, whilst the two officers signalled to the patrol car and six other policemen. They all appeared to tense up.

The news crews took this as a sign, and focused upon the doorway. The locals of Odaiba watched carefully. The four Digidestined fixed their attention rigidly on the hatch, waiting for any movement.

First, two sailors (one of which was the man who had spoken to the police a few moments ago) came out and headed over to the dock offices. Then an older man with dark hair appeared, looked around, and began to walk slowly down the ramp.

Once he was about halfway down the gangplank, a tall thin man appeared from the Lady May. He crouched slightly as he came through the door, paused, then came to his full height.

As his piercing brown eyes gazed down upon the crowd with what looked like distain, Kari knew without a doubt that her brother had, indeed, returned.

He wore simple clothing, clearly taken from the ship's crew. His dark blue trousers looked a size or two too big, only held up by his belt. His shirt was a similar dark colour, short sleeved, revealing thin, ropey-muscled arms, developed from a combination of work to stay alive and lack of food. Around his right lower arm and hand were dirty bandages imitating a gauntlet. Upon his feet were a pair of steel-toed brown worker's boots, which, as he began to stride down the ramp, clomped heavily upon the wooden surface. 

However, as he got closer, the spectators could see that the most startling part of him was his face. His left cheek looked as if it had been smashed, for it was now pitted with scars which were barely covered by the stubble that ran from his chin to his sideburns. His brown hair was short, though keeping its wild style of when he was younger.

The biggest change of all though, were his brown eyes. They were surrounded by seemingly darker skin and slightly lowered eyebrows, resulting in such an intense gaze that all whom he looked directly at couldn't help but feel unnerved. It was as if he were analysing them, considering them, wondering how he could kill them and use their carcass to extend his own life- which wasn't too far from the truth. After all, everything else he had seen living until recently had been just a source of food.

The spell of silence that had seemed to take the crowd abruptly broke as he reached them. A particularly brave reporter leaned forward across the police barrier, microphone in hand, and said,

"Mr Kamiya! Can you tell us what it's like to be back in civilization?"

There was no time to even begin to answer before the dam broke, and a torrent of questions and noise flooded over him. Tai looked completely bewildered, before his face seemed to darken. Ignoring the cheering crowds and multitude of questions that were being fired at him, he followed the two officers towards the police car.

"Mr. Kamiya! Where have you been all this time?"

"...feel to see people again?"

"...was it like... be alone?"

"Who did you... the most?"

The Digidestined were furious as they pushed their way towards him, desperate to see him closely. Tai didn't like being alone, that much they knew, but being in a crowd all talking about him could be just as bad. None of them cared for him, but judging by the look on his face, he already knew that.

"Taichi! Please, tell the viewers at home, what did it take to stay alive, being alone for all this time?"

This, oddly, caught his attention. The navy blue clad man stopped, glancing at the reporter for a moment out of the corner of his eye, before ambling in an almost relaxed manner towards him with a quizzical look upon his face.

"What do you care?" he asked, surprising his four old friends as they neared. He spoke quieter and slower than before, and by all rights had a voice that could easily be ignored; yet, it held a hidden power that seemed to demand attention. The crowd began to quiet down to hear him.

"Well..." the reporter said, taken off guard by the simple question, "the viewers at home want to know."

"Do they," Taichi answered flatly, giving his… 'prey', a cool and calculating look. "Is that really why you are asking me, why you all want to know?" he said as his voice became louder to address the other news crews. "You don't care, you just want to sell your stories to get rich. You just want drama and action."

"Well... It's always a good thing. We have to get involved-"

"You want to be involved," Tai cut him off.

"Yeah."

"I see."

Tai began to turn away and made as if to continue to the waiting car, when suddenly he span on his heel and slammed his fist into the reporter's face. The man fell back, and a stunned silence descended.

"Aren't you entertained?" Tai shouted out as he backed away from the fallen man, arms apart in a gesture of contempt, excess strips of cloth hanging from his bandaged right hand. "Aren't you pleased?" His voice was aggressive, mocking, dry and frightening. "Isn't this why you are here?"

And still, no one replied.

He spat on the floor, turned, and stalked onwards to the patrol car, ignoring all of the people behind him. Without another word, he got in, slammed the door, and waited for it to set off.

There was a bang on the window.

Tai frowned, and looked up to see what fool now wanted to us his life to gain recognition. He was certainly surprised when he came face to face with a young brown haired girl with tearful eyes. Next to her was another girl, a redhead, also crying, who looked a little older. Behind were two men- a blonde and another redhead...

'Wait a minute…' 

Words could not describe what Kari felt as she looked into the tired eyes of her older brother. She could see it, he recognised them, but he did nothing. The image was burnt into her mind, of him not moving, not speaking, just... staring.

Even as the car began to move, he refused to look away.


	3. Always Tomorrow

CHAPTER 3: ALWAYS TOMMOROW 

Matt gave off a yawn as he plucked the strings on his guitar. It was the most annoying part of being in a band, he believed, tuning his instrument. He disliked it in that it always seemed to take so _long_. Despite his talent and worldwide fame, he lacked the ability to tell the subtle differences between notes, and of course it made such an activity immensely frustrating.

"It sounds alright to me," came a female voice from across the small practice room. Matt looked up to see his girlfriend, Katie, watching him with a keen eye.

"I hope it is. The sooner it's done, the sooner I can have a beer," he replied with a grin. She mirrored it.

Katie was a pretty girl, having bright green eyes and pony-tailed brown hair which reached down to her shoulders. She was a little shorter than Matt, though taller than many women, and carried around an air of confidence which made many men feel attracted to her. She was a member of the band's support team, and helped to set up before performances. When he met her about a year ago, Matt had been involved in putting up some lighting (for they had been, at the time, drastically undermanned), and had come into contact with her literally when he had tripped and landed on her. The result had left them both in an embarrassing position on the floor, but Matt, cool as ever, managed to brush it off, AND get a date with her in the process.

God knows how he did it.

"There's a six pack in the fridge."

"Well screw this then!" he exclaimed, putting down the instrument and standing from his chair. Katie laughed, before leading the way out of the practice room and into the hallway of the tour bus. It was, as tour busses go, quite large in comparison to other makes. This one had been refitted to provide storage space for the band's equipment and somewhere to practice, whilst another of the same basic design had been used for the band to travel in. This was their destination, and could be seen across the compound as the two descended the steps and out of the door.

The arrived at the 'living quarters' bus, hopping up the steps to the main corridor, leading down the middle of the vehicle like a spine. Matt dropped into a breakfast bar built in a horseshoe shape on one side, whilst Katie reached into the nearby fridge and pulled out two cans of beer. She walked over to her boyfriend, handed one to him, before dropping down next to him. She reached for a small remote on the breakfast table and switched the small TV across the aisle on.

Matt took a gulp of his alcohol whilst putting an arm around Katie, who leaned against him in response. 

"Do you know if anything good's on?" he asked.

"Nope. Probably not though, you know how American daytime TV is."

"Boring?"

"Exactly."

They skimmed through the cannels, eventually settling upon a news show which had just begun. Matt, being Japanese, found the American media to be an endless form of entertainment. News broadcasts were so often cheesy and biased nowadays, that he couldn't help but laugh at them.

But it wasn't just America though, oh no. Most countries had something uniquely weird. He'd witnessed many in his time on tour, and one of his personal favourites besides the American media was the British. The 'Sun' newspaper was a true classic- forgoing important stories in favour of ones which were just plain odd. Like the latest version of plastic surgery rather than an attack on an old-age pensioner, for example, wonderfully displaying their priorities.

It was such a strange world.

It had been a while since he had watched the news, and he intended to enjoy it. With beer in one hand and his girlfriend beside him, he was ready.

"And now we continue with the story of the moment! Mr. Kamiya was reunited with his sister today, after over six years of isolation! We go live now to our reporter outside Odaiba Coastal Hospital in Japan..."

Thus, the first word Matt had was the media's version of Taichi's return. Within fifteen minutes, he was frantically dialling the number of Izzy and Mimi.

He was not going to forget his friend this time.

----------

The day seemed to drag along abnormally slowly for all involved. For Taichi, endless tests lay before him to test his health and whether or not he had become infected by something or other. For the four companions who were waiting for him to be released, it was simply a stressful experience. Waiting in a hospital is not something which anyone enjoys.

Kari, in particular, was becoming increasingly distressed and frustrated. Why wouldn't they let her see him? No one appeared to know. Though she herself knew that he was in no condition to be reunited with with them _just_ yet, for someone in her position something like that just didn't register.

She looked around the corridor where they had all been placed for perhaps the tenth time in the last half hour. Sterile white walls met her gaze, leading off into the distance to either size of them. It was so false, so unreal, so... plain. It seemed that the only break from it came from the black plastic chairs they had been pointed to hours ago, fixed along the walls. Nurses and doctors would walk past occasionally, but would spare them no more than a passing glance. They had seen people such as them many a time.

But it was not that she was here that annoyed her. It was that this was the first building in which her brother had been for many years. She did not want him to get the impression that all buildings were like this one, that they all held the smell of antiseptic and everyday saw the passing on of people to whatever came next, leaving behind weeping relatives. Making them lonely.

No, she did not want Tai feeling lonely like them. Not again, not ever again.

But then, judging by how the other Digidestined had reacted to hearing about the castaway, that was unlikely to ever be a problem. Besides, she wouldn't allow them to forget him.

Kari knew that it was evening- she couldn't see it, but she could feel it in the air, could see it in the way Davis was sprawled over his chair, and how Sora was slumping forwards as they sat across the corridor from them. It was a good sign, she thought. He was supposed to be released before the day was out. Not too long to go then, hopefully... And then, at last, she would be able to see and speak to him for the first time in what seemed like centuries.

"What are you going to say to him first?" a quite voice came from beside her. She looked at Takeru, whose head was resting against the white corridor wall, as if in deep thought.

"I'm... not really sure," she replied after a moment. "Welcome home, I guess."

TK looked down at her, a small smile touching his lips.

"Is that all?"

"I don't know. What can you say? Just thinking about it, it all sounds so... inappropriate."

"I know. I've been asking myself what I want to say, but I just can't think of anything that seems right."

"What have you thought of?"

"Well... 'Sorry', I suppose. Or, 'it's good to see you again'. Heh, it's so hard."

"Doncha worry. You'll think of something," a new voice said. Kari looked across the corridor to see Davis watching her and her husband. It appeared to be one of those rare moments where he actually offered some (fairly) good advice, and it was best to be quiet when it happened, lest one not come for a long, long time. Everyone deserved a moment in the sun, after all.

"Whenever something like this happens," he continued, "I think it's best to say whatever hits you at the time. If you think about it too much, then it's as if you've been rehearsing it, and then you ain't talkin' from the heart.

"Trust me, when we go into his room to see him, he'll grin just like he used to, and give you a great big hug or something. You'll know just what to say then," he finished with a smile.

Kari smiled back at him and leaned her head on TK's shoulder. She didn't see the worried and almost frightened look on Sora's face as the older woman stared at her lap.

"Excuse me?"

Kari rolled her eyes upwards to see who had spoke, revealing a man in a white coat looking at TK.

"Yes?" her husband answered.

"You are the family of Mr. Taichi Kamiya, aren't you?"

They all tensed up,

"Yes, we are all family and close friends. What's up? Is he alright?"

"He's fine, mostly," the man replied. He was a middle-aged doctor, quite tall and with jet-black hair which would soon begin to grey. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of thin-framed glasses, which made it difficult to read his expression. "Physically, he appears to be in very good condition, all things considered. His immune system must have developed somewhat, because we found no trace of an infection. However, he has received a number of wounds, though he won't say where from. Had we been able to treat him when they were fresh, then we could have helped them heal cleanly, but with him being stranded they have mostly left scars, which he will carry for the rest of his life.

"He is relatively fit, even if quite skinny. A healthy diet will soon solve that though. Most teeth have rotted to a degree, so we have booked an appointment with your dentist Mrs. Takaishi," he said with a glance in Kari's direction, "to get some cleaned and some replaced.

"Mentally, on the other hand, he is... well, withdrawn is the best word for it, I think. He also appears frightened of needles, and was trying to keep away from them. We asked him why, but like with the scars, he would not say. I understand that he is to be staying with you, Mr. Takaishi? It would be wise, I think, to keep him away from sharp objects.

"But surely, you want to see him for yourselves?"

There was a collective nod, and the doctor smiled.

"Very well then. Please, come with me."

He took them down the corridor, twisting off at the end of it, and seemingly taking passages at random. It had never really occurred to Kari quite how big hospitals were, but then that wasn't really a priority right now.

Suddenly, the doctor stopped at they came to a door.

"I suggest that just one should meet him first, to keep him calm."

Immediately, though with an ill feeling in her stomach, Kari volunteered for the job.

"Very well. Go on in, we'll be waiting."

Slowly, Kari pushed open the white door. The sight beyond almost made her choke on her breath in wonder.

There he stood, proud and tall as had always been his way in the Digital World. He was facing away from her, silhouetted by the setting sun outside the widow, which opened to the breathtaking view of the city and sea bathed in a golden light. His hands were clasped behind his back, and she could make out the bandage (though a fresh one) still present upon his right hand and arm. He seemed not to notice her, instead concentrating upon the giant burning ball of gas as it descended below the horizon, out over the ocean.

"Tai...?" she whispered.

Slowly, he turned to fix his eyes upon her. He seemed so much taller than when she had last seen him, so much more intimidating, but upon seeing her, his face instantly softened as recognition flowed into his mind.

"Kari," he said simply.

In less than a moment, she had leapt across the room and into his arms, crying tears of joy into his chest. Gently, he held her as he had when they were little, a warm smile playing upon his face.

He hadn't felt so content in years. He completely ignored the three other Digidestined as they entered the room, oblivious to the smiles they gave the scene of the reunited brother and sister.

However, when he did notice them, not even his little sister could prevent a tiny frown appearing on his features.

But then, no, not even the question of why they were here could take away the warmth he felt.

Because as it would always be with Tai, beginning from his time on his island, it was the small things that counted. 

Even something as small as a hug.

----------

_'Interesting,' _he thought, as he observed the three over the girl's shoulder. _'Kari, I can understand. Takeru, too, and Davis… But –her- as well? My, aren't I the popular one. I wonder what I did to deserve the luxury of her company.'_

Tai's feelings were mixed about Sora, and to an extent Davis too. He did not know whether to be pleased, annoyed, offended... Why was _she_ here? Why not with Matt? 

The idea briefly came to mind that maybe she was concerned for him, like she used to be, but was dismissed just as quickly. The notion seemed ridiculous, almost comical. If he felt younger, perhaps he would have laughed, but right now he did not care to. He was too tired, anyway.

Still, there was the nagging question of where the rest of the Digidestined were... As much as he hated to admit it, he _did_ care. Perhaps they would show up later?

'Perhaps. We'll see.'

----------

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"Believe me Joe, I'm not at all! I understand that the very notion sounds preposterous- I wouldn't believe Matt when he told me- but it was on the news just a few minutes ago! Tai _is_ alive!"

"Wha... How? How could someone live for so long? How could he survive the plane crash?"

"I don't know, we'll have to ask him! Matt's already heading back to Odaiba, even though he's technically supposed to be on tour, and I'm going to go as soon as possible too. Mimi's already trying to get plane tickets for us- you should have seen her when she heard! It took me half an hour to calm her down!"

"I just don't believe it... But if it is true... Listen, Izzy I'll let Jun know. We'll get down to Odaiba in a few days, maybe sooner. I can't just drop everything at the practice."

"I know, I know... But try and get there soon. A doctor at hand will be very useful, and he probably wants to see us all again, especially the old team."

"Don't worry Izzy. I'll keep the news on so that I don't miss anything... And thank you for calling. I think I may have missed it otherwise, I never have time for TV anymore, it seems."

Joe dropped the phone down on the receiver and leant back into the comfort of his leather chair, whilst bringing his hands up to tiredly rub his eyes. He wanted to believe that Taichi was alive, yet somewhere in the recesses of his mind he was not so pleased as he could be. Despite Izzy's enthusiasm, he knew better.

The young doctor could remember very well how Kari had yelled at them after Tai's funeral. She had said how he had felt betrayed and ignored by them all, and who knew what six years could do to such bitterness? Their old leader would not be so forgiving as to smile, slap each of them on the back and carry on as if nothing happened. No, nothing of the sort.

Izzy was smart, but lacked the ability to consider people's feelings at such a complex level as he. It was for this reason that Joe began to wish he hadn't picked up the pone at all.

'I see many troubles ahead,' he thought, 'but no use in trying to escape them now.'

With a sigh, he took out his mobile phone and dialled Jun's number.

----------

By the time Tai had arrived at the Takaishi apartment, night had fallen. Kari had wasted no time in making sure that her brother was fully catered for- she had, so far, offered him dinner, tea, and coffee five times over, showed him around and prepared the guest room. He had just watched, stranded somewhere between amusement and surprise. 

After showing him the guest room, she had produced a new set of clothes, which apparently were TK's. _"They were too large,"_ she reasoned, as she thrust them upon him. Tai had mulled over refusing the garments, that he couldn't just take them, but the knowing look that TK was giving him was enough to keep his mouth shut. He didn't mind at all- after all, the two had been good friends before the crash.

Indeed, his first interaction with TK in the hospital had been amusing.

He disengaged from his sister, stepping back and away from her. She smiled, and gestured to the blonde man who was moving up next to her.

_"Tai... This is Takeru. Remember? He's..."_

_She trailed off, noticing that he wasn't paying attention to her. He was looking over her with that frighteningly calm look he wore when he walked of the ship, back towards the doorway. Kari looked round, only to see that Sora had disappeared. Davis was looking out of the doorway._

_"Takeru."_

_Her brother's voice startled her, and she whirled around to see Tai looking the shorter man in the eye, without a hint of remorse._

_"It's good to see you again," TK said bravely. Tai didn't seem to care, instead only continued to watch him._

_"You... and Kari... are married?" Taichi said quietly. And still, his gaze did not waver._

_"Yes, we are. We have been for about a year now."_

_Kari could see that TK was frightened to an extent, but she knew him well- he would not back down over her._

_The tension continued to build in the room, and Kari prepared to leap between them should anything happen, but it was then that Tai surprised everyone when a smile grew on his face._

_He looked completely at ease, like a ghost of his former self. So completely out of place over how he had been acting this last day. He reached out, placing his hand on Takeru's shoulder._

_"Well done," was all he said, before he walked by them and to Davis._

_Husband and wife looked at each other. Kari found herself laughing at the wide-eyed look on his face._

Tai had seen Sora leave, crumbling under his gaze. He had found that after a moment, he was quite offended at her presence. Why was she there? Did she care?

No. 

She would only be there if she felt guilty. He idea of her caring, to Tai, was ludicrous. He had felt no remorse when she ran from the room.

Davis, he thought, was just as daft as he remembered. The lad hadn't changed at all. He was pleased at that.

After Tai had finally accepted one of Kari's offers of dinner, he had gone to his room and inspected the clothes that he had been given. Nothing special, just garments designed for living in.

Good.

A long crimson shirt, more of a tunic really (no wonder TK thought it was too big), complimented with black jeans and a belt. His workers boots, too heavy in his opinion, could now be swapped for the provided pair of black trainers and socks. No sweater, but instead the outfit was finished by a hooded deep green overcoat/trench coat type item. It looked, thankfully, warm and would reach down to just below his knees.

Not fashionable, but he was prepared to make do. Fashion was a luxury, something he could do without. As long as it would keep him warm, then he would wear just about anything.

Except for pink. A man must, of course, have his priorities.

And so, Taichi Kamiya was home, and slept soundly for the first time in six long years. Though many questions were unanswered in his mind, it didn't matter. There was always tomorrow, and tomorrow could wait it's turn.


	4. Prove it

Wow, I wrote this one quickly! I dunno why, I guess I was just inspired... Thank you all for your kind comments, they mean a lot to me. It's nice to know that people are enjoying my little story. :-)

Y'know, I'm actually a bit embarrassed to say it, but this is the first fanfic which I have _really_ thought about carefully before I put pen to paper (if you follow my meaning). Rest assured, Everything that is happening serves a purpose, which includes Tai's scars, so don't worry- by the plan, the stories of him on the island should start to appear during the next chapter or so. And each will be relevant in displaying the moral of the story, as it were.

Well, go ahead and take a gander, and let me know what you think!

p.s. I think I should let you know, I'm English, which is why I say 'mum' rather than 'mom', and 'football' rather than 'soccer'. I tried using the American-English words, but didn't feel comfortable with them, so I stuck to what I knew. It makes no real difference to the story however, so it's no biggie.

**CHAPTER 4: PROVE IT**

The next five days were calm if one could count out the news crews who occasionally knocked on the apartment door, or followed them when they went out. They had kept doing so to a minimum- 'food only' was the way, the only reason to step out of the safety of the doorway, apart from the third day. That whole day had been dedicated by Kari, TK and Davis to buying a few more items of clothing for Tai, as well as catering for his own personal needs- shaver and cream, deodorant, even hair gel (which Davis had insisted on buying for a reason beyond him). Taichi was on his way to re-entering society.

There had been quite a nice 'bonus' of sorts, when the airline which had owned the crashed plane, American Airlines, had got into contact with them. They had sent a donation (which they had made rather public of course) in the form of a cheque payable to the castaway. He had opened a bank account with TK's help, into which it had all been placed, ready to be put to use to set him up for life. They had been quite generous too- he could probably live comfortably for a couple of years without having to work. But then Tai wanted to work sooner or later- he didn't need to be stranded in a flat, left only with his thoughts. He'd had more than enough time alone. 

Thus, his two flatmates had been around all the time. He had asked about their work, only to find that TK worked partially from home as a novelist as well as being a part time worker on the local council switch boards, and that Kari worked in the local primary school- both had been given leave for 'family matters'. He was pleased at hearing this- it was nice to be around family once again.

Which brought up a very interesting question.

"Kari," the scarred man said as he walked into the kitchen area of his sister's apartment that morning after exchanging greetings with the girl, "how are mum and dad?"

Kari stopped at the counter, putting down the kettle she had been using to prepare their morning coffee. She didn't answer for quite some time, and Tai realised quickly that this was not going to be pretty.

"They... died about a year and a half ago. It was a car accident, on a slippery road, they hit a lorry, and..."

She turned to look at her brother, expecting to see him saddened by the news. To her surprise, he looked rather indifferent- almost like he had expected it. Kari had pieced together since his return that this Tai, though far more patient than he once had been, was certainly not one to beat around the bush when it came to matters of importance. What he was showing now was going to be what he felt.

But to feel _nothing_?

So, she asked him.

"Tai? Aren't you... sad?"

He paused, then said quietly,

"I don't know. I suppose I suspected it. I'm not sure of how to explain it, but I suppose that I was as dead to them as they were to me, so in a way..."

"You've already grieved?" she finished.

"Yes. And no. I never spent too much time thinking of people as dead, but I didn't think of anyone as alive either. It was just that you, mum, dad, and the rest of the Digidestined were somewhere else. Somewhere I could, perhaps, get to if I tried."

"...you wanted to see us again?"

"I had no will to see the rest of the Digidestined again. Please do not misunderstand me Kari, I wanted to see those who I knew cared about me, not those who forgot. You, TK, Davis too... But not Sora, nor Matt, Mimi, Izzy..."

"Why? After you... went, they all came to the funeral. They all missed you, they all felt guilty-"

"Which is why I don't want to see them. Kari, being guilty is no reason for me to believe that I can trust them again. Once they feel better, they will just go away again."

Kari found herself at a loss for words at that. He had changed, he seemed so _wise_. Obviously, he had thought about many things on his island and as well as making him so much more serious and patient, it had apparently given him the ability of foresight. And, by the sounds of it, he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"So what are you going to do? What do you want from them?"

"_If_ they turn up, then I will ask of them a question. And, depending on their answer, I will know if I can trust them."

He was quiet as he looked her in the eye. After a moment, he spoke again.

"Could I see their graves?"

She was thrown for a moment by the swift change of topic, before realising that he was referring to their parents.

"Of course, Tai. The school has given me another week off after this one, so we can go anytime."

"Thank you," he said with a smile. She mirrored it, before pushing the unpleasant memories from her mind. Of course, with her 'dead' brother standing before her, doing so was much easier than it once had been, and for that she was thankful.

"Anything going to happen today?" he asked, as he turned and took a seat at the table in the main room.

"Well," TK said as he walked out of the master bedroom to join them, whilst pulling a shirt over his head (much to the annoyance of his wife), "Every week on Tuesday we meet at Davis' café for a beer or two and catch up on the latest events. Do you want to come?"

"Who will be there?"

"Well, Kari and me," he said as he walked to his wife and took two of the mugs of coffee she presented to him. After setting one down in front of the older man, he continued, "plus Sora and sometimes Davis."

"Is that all?"

"Well, yeah, unless one of the guys is passing through. They're scattered all over the world now with different jobs... and actually, speaking of them, surely they have heard about you on the news by now. Perhaps they will make contact?"

Tai said nothing, opting to contemplate the bubbles in his caffeine filled drink instead. Dealing with a guilty Sora was bad enough... He really did not feel up to seeing _them_ just yet.

Still, he would go. He had a dislike of staying indoors for a long period of time, and would enjoy going out for a while.

"I'll go," he said. TK and Kari looked relieved.

"Tai," his sister said, "I think before we go you should take the bandages of you hand, they look like they're cutting off your blood..."

He frowned, looking at his bandages limb, realising that it was trembling again. 'No,' he thought, not the blood...'

"Don't worry Kari. I will."

She smiled pleasantly as she came to the table to eat breakfast with them, before launching a conversation with the two men about the news of the day. Tai did not forget about her request however, and began to bide his time and wait for the right moment to ask a favour of TK. That moment came after about fifteen minutes, when she went to the master bedroom for some reason that he did not care to know. What was useful though was that they had been talking about the weather, which was beginning to cool- winter was coming.

"Takeru," he said casually, and waited for the younger man's questioning look. It only took a moment. "Do you have any old gloves that I could use? My hands get cold easily."

"Sure Tai!" he replied cheerfully in between bites of toast. "I have a pretty decent pair of ones that I used to use, they should fit you fine. I'll get them before we go today, I mean, we don't want you getting cold in this weather, do we?"

"Thank you," Tai answered, followed by taking a sip of coffee from his mug using both hands. This was, of course, for a reason- he had found long ago that keeping his right hand warm seemed to calm it down, even if it did still twitch on occasion. But there was no point in alerting anyone to it- after all, the doctor had said that nothing could be done to repair it.

"Um, Tai?" Takeru asked, "What do you think about... Y'know, Kari and me? You used to be so protective of her, I thought that you were gonna kill me in the hospital..." he trailed off with a nervous laugh.

Tai raised an eyebrow.

"I was."

TK blinked in surprise, and Tai continued as a dangerous grin touched his lips.

"Well, I was going kill whoever it was. There was just one exception- _you_." He levelled a finger at the other, to emphasise his point. "_You_ are the only person who I think is good enough for her. _You _are the only person who I think can protect her. And,_ you_ are the only person I know she likes romantically."

"...huh?"

Tai leaned back, and regarded his confused companion with mild amusement.

"Oh, don't deny it. I know that you two were going out before all of this started." 

TK was starting to blush.

"I don't mind, Takeru. I just... Have one request."

"Uh, sure Tai. What is it?"

He signalled the younger man to move closer, and they lent towards each other over the table. Tai spoke in a hushed tone, as though he were relaying a secret that he wanted no one else to know.

"Next time you... you know... Can you try and keep the noise down?"

He couldn't help but laugh as TK shot back, toast forgotten, his face almost instantly turning crimson, whilst trying to splutter some reasonable answer.

----------

A few hours passed, and soon Tai found himself following his sister and her husband to Davis' café. He had asked if Davis owned the place, to which the other two had simply laughed as though he had meant the question as a joke. Which meant that, no, Davis did not own the café... but then, Tai wouldn't have expected him to anyway. For him to own such a place was a little far fetched... Not that the kid was a bad person, of course. He just was a bit daft with his decisions.

Still, that was Davis.

Tai felt naked, for lack of a better term, without the gauntlet-like bandage up his right arm. Instead he had a black fingerless glove which, whilst not his ideal item, did it's job. As long as he covered the palm of his hand, then he was okay- what he did so _with_ didn't matter too much.

There was a slight flaw in this plan, however. Six years of scratching a living out of the land and rock had caused him to develop a mindset that if it wasn't necessary to use something, then he wouldn't use it. In this case, it wasn't necessary to wear the left glove, for his hands were not cold, nor did he have anything to hide there. The odd thing was that he _wanted_ to wear it as part of his cover, but he just _couldn't_. He felt like it was almost a crime to waste the item.

So he just wore the right glove, and hoped that no one would notice.

They arrived at the café in good time, moving over to a corner table by a window to avoid the looks from other customers as the castaway from the news appeared before them. Tai sat with the glass to his left, and Kari on his right, whilst TK plopped down over the other side of the table. Davis soon turned up with a grin plastered on his face.

"Greetings, good sirs, and Madame," he said with an exaggerated bow in Kari's direction.

"Hello Davis," TK replied, mirroring his grin. "What are you doing over here? I didn't know that you got waiters in here."

"Heh, not until recently. It's the boss' idea, he thinks that we'll get more customers if we act more 'professional'. I don't mind, it's more interesting than standing behind the till all day. Plus, it's so much more social!"

"Great! Who knows, maybe now you will find a girlfriend!"

"Ah shaddap," the goggle wearing boy said. "So how are things, Tai? What's it like to be home?"

"Nice," he replied. "It is strange, I mean, everything is so different now... But it _is_ nice to be back with my family and you, my friend."

"Used you hair gel yet?"

"Umm... Not yet, I haven't had a need."

"Ah, I bet you will soon. The ladies love a bit 'o gel."

"So why don't they go out with you?" TK asked innocently.

"All-RIGHT! Enough with the comments on my love life already!" Davis said in exasperation, as the other three chuckled at his state. However, they all fell silent when a quiet cough from behind the newly appointed waiter got their attention.

Davis stepped to the side, revealing a certain red-haired and red-eyed young woman, who was wearing a brave smile, yet was also trying to remain composed, as one facing their fear would do.

"Hello Sora!" TK, Kari and Davis said in three various ways. Tai, in the manner that he had taken since he had returned, simply looked at her, as if questioning her presence.

"Hey, um, guys," Davis said, "I'm still getting used to this waiter stuff, and uh, I've left the menus back at the counter... Um, TK, Kari, could you come and... Help me get them? Or something?"

"Sure!" the two exclaimed at the same time, thankful for Davis' poor (although convenient) excuse for them to leave Tai and Sora alone. They all but leapt from the table and disappeared further into the café, Davis trailing behind them in surprise at their speed.

Tai did not look at her, but he heard her sigh and sit directly across from her. It was then that he realised that his hand was trembling again, so slowly began to rub it with his other to calm it down.

"Hello Tai," she said quietly. He raised his eyes to her, and looked at her in his now usual manner.

"Sora," he replied flatly in greeting.

"You look well..."

"Kari took me shopping. It's all thanks to her, really."

"Oh... I bet you're glad to be with her again, huh?"

"Yes."

They were silent for a while. Sora was nervously playing with her hands, feeling uncomfortable at that she could not think of a thing to say to her old friend. Tai, on the other hand, was used to such pauses, and so leant back in his chair and crossed his arms. They remained that way, until Sora could stand it no longer.

"Listen, Tai, I... I want to say, I mean that... I'm... Sorry, for all that's happened, and-"

"Don't be," he cut her off. "I'm not."

"But... I feel so bad, so guilty about it all, I mean I was supposed to be your best friend..."

"Yes. You were."

"...do you hate me?" she asked, lowering her gaze. He responded by leaning forward, and resting his elbows upon the table. His hands laced together beneath his chin, and he fixed his eyes on her, before saying,

"Hate you? No. I can't hate you."

Her head shot up, hope sparking in her eyes, but he spoke again before she could even open her mouth.

"But, I don't trust you either."

He could see the hope fading, but he ignored it. He had to tell her this- she deserved to know.

"Listen to me, Sora. You were once my best friend. I trusted you with my life on many occasions, but after that Christmas-" he could see she knew what she meant "- you drifted from me. You must understand that I did not hate you for choosing Matt over me, I never did, but you moved further and further away."

"But I broke up with him!" she spluttered, but he seemed to ignore her as he continued.

"After a year... I didn't feel like I knew you anymore. It was the same with all of the others, all apart from Takeru, Davis, and of course Kari. 

"Because of this, I trust them, and only them. I do not feel that I can trust anyone else. So, until I feel that I can, I do not want to pursue any sort of relationship with you, nor anyone else."

"But Tai! Can't you see, can't you see how much I care for you?!"

"Let me ask you a question, Sora. Answer carefully. _Do _you care for me?"

"Of course! I just said I did..."

"Prove it."

That completely stumped the girl. She may have expected many things, but certainly not that. Prove that she cared? How? What could she do?

"I... I can't, I don't know how..."

"I know," he said quietly. "Only when you find the answer, will I know that you truly do."

Sora's head dropped, hiding her eyes beneath her shoulder-length hair. Tai relaxed form his serious posture, raising his head to look in the direction the other three had gone. He saw Kari looking over at them in concern, and made a motion with his head to signal that it was okay for them to come back. She did so, TK in tow, followed by Davis who was holding four cans of beer. They sat down quietly, trying to kill off the tense air by acting calm.

Sora raised her head when a can of beer was placed before her, wiping her eyes with her arm, but not before Tai noticed that they were moist. He had, apparently, nearly set her crying, and for that he felt a pang of anger at himself. But it was quickly fought down whilst he made a mental note to be a bit nicer. He wasn't a monster, after all.

"Hey," Sora said, putting on a smile and forcing her voice to be steady. "I wanted to tell you guys that I'm in a show on Saturday."

"Oh!" Kari said, "To show your latest designs?"

"Yeah. I'm nervous though, judging by my reputation this will be my last chance to make it big."

"What is it you do?" Tai asked. The best way to cheer her up, he figured, was to take an interest in what she was doing, and by the way her face lit up he was right.

"Oh, I'm a clothes designer. I sell stuff through the Internet, but it's really hard to get recognition, so I've been entering into fashion shows- you know, with a catwalk. I figured that it was the best way to go, but it hasn't really helped much."

"I don't understand it," Davis said as he scribbled something down on his 'waiters' notepad'. "Your stuff is great, I mean if _I_ was a girl, I'd buy some."

"I know... But there always seems to be a problem when someone buys something from me. Like it falls apart after a day."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do better this time." Kari said reassuringly. "I mean, your new designs are the best I've seen..."

Tai leaned back once again as the conversation continued, only half listening. It was interesting to listen to the people he's known last as teenagers talk about adult matters, something which he was supposed to be doing, and _would_ be doing, had he not gotten onto that plane...

"I wanted to ask," Sora was saying when he turned his attention back to them fully, "if you guys would come to the show with me. I could use the support... You don't have to of course, but-"

"Sure we'll go!" Kari exclaimed, and TK nodded in agreement.

"I'm in," Davis said, before dropping a note before TK. "And that's the bill for the beer, sir."

As TK reached for his wallet with a scowl at the bill (he was sure it had gone up since last time), Kari and Sora looked over at Taichi. He nodded at the unspoken question.

"Great!" Sora said. "If we can meet outside the concert hall at about 6pm then?"

"Sure, that will be fine," Kari said with a smile whilst picking a can of beer form the ones Davis had placed on the table. "It'll be fun!"

Sora smiled as she took another for herself.

"Hey, I gotta go," Davis said as he stuffed his notepad into his pocket. "More customers. I'll be there too, so don't go in without me, okay?"

With that, the goggle-wearing young man waved and headed back towards the counter. TK waved back, before pushing a can of beer towards Tai.

"Beer?" he said questioningly.

"Yeah, beer!" Takeru said cheerfully. "You have had some, right?"

"No, I never got the chance."

Ignoring the wide-eyed disbelieving looks he was receiving from his companions, he made to pop the ring-pull. He succeeded eventually, though with some difficulty due to his six-year lack of experience with them, and carefully sniffed at the newly created hole in the can.

"It smells like urine," he declared.

TK laughed and said,

"Ah don't worry about that. You won't notice after a while!"

Tai looked at him suspiciously, before taking a swig of the stuff. He barely stopped himself from spitting it back out again.

"Jeez! It tastes like it too!"

After Tai had managed to get rid of his beer (which TK had taken with little complaint) and gain a class of water as a replacement, conversation had flowed with a minimal amount of uncomfortable silence. Tai learnt many things about nothing, and nothing about many things, seeing as most topics did not yet concern him. He had become a careful listener on his island, however, so he certainly listened out for anything that, one day, may have been useful.

Among such things were where the other Digidestined were. Matt was still with his band, and had apparently hit it big about four years ago. He was currently on tour. Izzy and Mimi were dating, the computer whiz having moved to America to continue some computing degree. He had stayed with her, and things had gone -quite well- from there. Joe was now a doctor trainee, and excelled at his work. He was practically in control of his own practice on the outskirts of Hiroshima. Jun had followed him, and was currently staying with him and though obsessive as she was, it was questionable as to whether or not they were romantically involved.

The newer Digidestined were just as varied. Ken had gone to Tokyo, obeying the strong sense of justice he had developed during his time as the Digimon Emperor to become a policeman. He was still training for it, but his goal, evidently, was to become a detective, where he could put his smarts to use. Yolei had begun to go out with him a few years back, taking advantage of how they were destined for the same city- she had been accepted at Tokyo University, much to her delight. It had taken a number of years, but she had stuck with it, and eventually had passed the entrance exam. Cody, the youngest, and perhaps wisest of them all had displayed an interest in Law. He had turned eighteen not to long ago, and would soon be studying it at University, but right now he was travelling around Japan with his grandfather as part of his Kendo training.

But that was not everything. Tai had not feigned his interest in Sora's business, after all, when he was little he had always wondered what she would do when she was older. Of course at the time, he had always assumed that she would work in her mothers' flower shop, or become a star football player.

She had started four years ago, when she had just turned nineteen. She would make some garments, simple things really, and sell them through local newspapers and the Internet. She soon became rather popular, and eventually caught the attention of lower levels of the Japanese fashion world. She'd made a good sum of money, and had become a regular customer of a clothes manufacturer, led by a man named Aoba. 

Aoba's business wasn't big, just a single warehouse in which a number of men and women worked for him at sowing machines all day. The output was _always_ good quality, and came reasonably quickly too. He was an odd man, 31 years old, forever lost in past pop songs and his air guitar. His shoulder-length hair didn't help the image, and even though he was friendly enough, Kari and TK had branded him as a little strange. Like a kid, who had never grown up.

Also, Sora had developed a contender who went by the name of Mana Kirishima. She looked a lot like Sora, with short red hair and a similar figure, and had naturally become a form of rival (a friendly rival, of course, because Sora -the Bearer of the Crest of Love- hated the idea of having an enemy). They had often competed during shows, but Mana had always won out the best deals and gained the best publicity, as Sora gradually declined. It had got worse as of late, and it appeared that Sora was losing her talent at creating clothes- her last few designs had quickly developed a number of faults, being tears and the like. Thankfully, it had not happened when her models were on the catwalk, but the businessmen HAD seen the errors after the show.

The result was that she was quickly losing money, and her reputation was going down the drain. Like she had said, the show on the coming Saturday was her last chance.

But Tai pushed this from his mind as the group turned to other topics, and he remained content to listen rather than make his voice heard.

It was out of character in comparison to the old Tai, he knew. But still, he thought with half-felt regret, 'many things change.'

----------

Kari frowned at Sora's apartment door, as she dug out her keys from her pocket. She did not know why she was here- Sora had phoned about half an hour ago, asking for her to come over, and to bring TK and Taichi with her. The older woman hadn't explained why, just that it was important.

And here they were.

Kari had knocked, a number of times, but no one had answered. This had the effect of getting the trio a little concerned (two of them visibly, the oldest retaining a calm cover). So, she had reverted to the back-up plan, using the spare key that Sora had given her when she had bought the flat.

She eventually found it in the pocket of her jeans, and subconsciously pulled her jacket closer around her. It was a cold evening, and she was not the only one who felt it- TK was in his own blue jacket, accompanied with jeans and a black sweater, and Tai was in the deep green long coat she had given him. He looked used to the cold, wearing only the jeans, trainers and crimson shirt she had provided when he had arrived nearly a week ago. She knew that he liked the coat- she had picked it from TK's old clothes, thinking that he would be reminded of the blue trench coat he had owned so many years ago.

And he wore a glove on his right hand.

Kari inserted the key into the lock, twisted it, and pushed open the front door. The three were presented with a dark hallway, which was confusing- why would Sora call them over, then go out without a word?

The brown-haired woman walked forwards carefully, brother and husband in tow. They stopped and fanned out upon reaching the main room.

"Where is she?" TK asked. Tai made no move to reply, instead looking around with a frown touching his features. Kari opened her mouth to speak, when suddenly she was cut off by a loud cry, which appeared to come from all around them.

"SURPRISE!!!"

The call was accompanied by the apartment lights blazing into existence, causing the three to shield their eyes for a moment. When they were able to see again, they were met by the sight of a number of familiar people, who had just leapt from various hiding spots around the room. Kari gasped, TK blinked, and Tai's eyes widened.

To Tai, everything became a blur of light and colour. He suddenly felt encircled, trapped, before realising that someone was giving him a hug. He could see two others coming towards him, and another watching from further away. But by the voices, he was sure that there were more, somewhere.

After a moment, his senses returned to him, and his mind began to process what was going on. He looked at the newly appeared people, and recognised them as older versions of those he had once called friends.

Matt was the one who had been hugging him. Izzy and Mimi were approaching him, grinning broadly. Davis was off to one side, looking quite uncomfortable- as though he was hoping for something, but didn't expect it. A purple-haired girl, who could only be Yolei, was giving him a beaming smile. A tall, intelligent looking man –Ken- was by her side. Sora was standing at the doorway to the kitchen looking calm but happy and another girl was by her, one with brown hair whom he did not know.

It was a party... A party?!

No!

Tai forcefully took a step back, pushing them away from him whilst yelling something defiantly. He didn't know what he said, but it was of no concern to him.

"What? Tai?" Matt said, looking confused.

"Get away! What is this, what are you _doing_?!"

"It's a party, you know, to celebrate you coming back to us!"

"No! I... I don't want this!" Ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of those before him, and the scared look on those he had spoken to over the past few days, he continued.

"I don't want your attention! I don't desire it, I don't need it! You ignored me before- what, what does _this_ prove?"

He looked sharply at Sora, causing her to take a step back.

"It this your answer, Sora? Is this your proof?" he shouted, referring to what he had asked of her earlier that day.

"Tai, what's wrong?" Mimi asked, trying to calm the situation down. "Don't you want us here?"

"No! Not like this!" he staggered backwards, inching towards the doorway. "You are just here to try to reassure me! But, but it isn't real- you don't care! Do you really think that throwing a _party_ will let me trust you again?"

"Tai!" Matt snapped, a result of his short temper. "You can't talk to us like this! Some of us have had to fly for twelve hours to get here-"

"And _I've_ had to fight for my life for the past six years with just the thoughts of abandonment by my friends to keep me company!" he shot back. "Don't _ever_ try to win me over with booze and fun! Is that all I am worth to you?" he yelled, before turning in disgust and running from the apartment.

There was utter, terrible silence, which hung in the air like the spectre of death. But Kari did not wait to see what would happen, instead turning and running after her brother, leaving TK to defuse the situation inside.

----------

"It looks like your guess was correct after all, Joe," a black-haired young man said quietly from within a car parked outside the apartment complex.

"I can't help but feel bad about that," the older man answered, watching as a tall man with wild hair and a short beard strode from the building, a smaller girl following him. "I was hoping that I'd have been wrong..."

"Even if that doesn't happen often, right?" Said a third, a female, leaning in from the back seat of the car.

"Well no one's perfect, Jun."

"Reliable, though. I can always rely on you two."

"Well, that _is_ our trait."

"True Cody, very true."

The three were silent as they watched the drama play before them. The girl, who they recognised as Kari, stopped the man and tried to talk him into going back and apologising for yelling. He simply refused as he moved into the light of a streetlamp.

None of them could help but feel a small degree of happiness touch them as they recognised the aged Taichi Kamiya. It was just a shame that they could not have seen him under better circumstances.

"They must have gone through with the party," Joe said. "I told Matt that it was a bad idea, but he had to go and do it anyway..."

"What do you think we should do?" Cody asked.

"For now? Nothing. Interrupting now would just make things worse. Besides, Kari has already calmed him down," the doctor replied as he gestured to the two, who were now hugging. Apparently, they had finished their argument, which was a small relief. Joe continued,

"We should wait. We don't want to swamp him like they just did. Instead, I think we should seek _him_ out, rather than luring him into a... 'Trap'."

"He won't feel pressured then," Cody added with a nod.

"Give it a couple of days then?" Jun asked.

"Yeah. Then... We can talk to him. We can show him that we care, that way."

"You've really been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?" the girl asked.

"All the time."


	5. Reason Why

Here we are with number 5! And according to my MS Word count, it has just hit 23000 words, which makes this my largest single piece of fiction to date! Ooo, I'm feeling so proud of myself... I used to be such a reluctant writer too... 

Anyway, thank you once again for your kind words, and I hope that you all enjoy this instalment. Be warned however that from here on in, the story will be worthy of it's PG-13 rating. Oh, and for the Taiora fans, this should be the last chapter without good relations between the two, so stay with me... I promise, there will be some, um, 'cute' scenes soon.

Please review!

CHAPTER 5: 'TIS NOT OURS TO REASON WHY 

"What do you think we should do? He's just become quiet again, like he was when he first arrived..."

"I don't think there is a lot we can do, Kari. Just wait for him to start talking again, I suppose. We can't force him to do anything."

"Yeah, but... I'm his sister, and he barely says anything to me... Why, TK? What have I done wrong?"

"You haven't done anything wrong... Listen, soon Tai will be back to how he was, trust me. All it takes is a bit of time." 

"..."

"He loves you, you know. He'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose."

"...yeah, I know... I know..."

----------

In the east, a young man sat back in his chair, wondering once again where everyone had gone over the last week. They had all made excuses, going to various places with, say, parents or going to see distant relatives. 

And he, as was the trend over the last two years, had been left out. He snorted, a grin appearing on his face. Eighteen years old in seven days, and he hadn't been out with friends his age for years. No one would ever invite him- he was just forgotten. Kari asked if he would go out with her and TK, but he didn't want to be a third wheel. He didn't want to make them uncomfortable.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are likely to experience some turbulence in a few minutes. For the safety of yourself and fellow passengers, please return to your seats."

The young man sighed at the pilot's announcement. He didn't like turbulence; it always made him feel queasy. He could remember that such an incident –did- make him sick once when he was going on holiday with friends when he was little. Unfortunately, a bag was not at hand, so he had used the closest thing available- namely, Sora Takenouchi's hat. He'd forgotten to tell her afterwards, and well... 

That had been unpleasant for all involved.

But to tell the truth, this seemed a bit more than just a common bit of turbulence. About an hour ago, there had been an announcement that a storm was ahead, so they had changed course to avoid it. However they didn't appear to have missed it completely- he just had to look out the window to see the lightning.

Yes, it worried him. Ever since the Digital World, he had developed a healthy dislike of technology- he just didn't trust it, and planes fell under that category. He had begun to think how strange it was that a tube of metal was able to get into the air and –stay- there.

Yes, it was odd. He was finding it harder and harder to believe that he was perfectly safe-

BANG!

There were screams around the cabin as pressure was lost and winds began to whip around the passengers. The young man looked about franticly in the now shaking aircraft, eventually seeing that one of the emergency escape windows had been, for whatever reason, blown open. His eyes widened in horror when he realised that it had taken the two closest aisle seats –including passengers- with it, as well as all those nearby who hadn't put on their seatbelts fast enough.

Cries filled his ears as the oxygen masks dropped from overhead. The cabin lights began to dim and flicker, casting everything into a deep blue light. His head was spinning, his body was shaking, his stomach was queasy... So the young man did the only thing he could.

He held on.

Time seemed to be slow, yet flew by at the same time. He could feel his stomach leaping as the plane descended at a speed too fast to be remotely safe, and he began to get the feeling that he was going to die. As frightened as he was, he calmly put his hand into his pocket as the aluminium tube rumbled around him, moving it to grip onto his silver pocket watch, one which he always kept close to him. It was the closest thing he had to a good luck charm, and he believed that it would always see him through bad times. His best friend had given it to him nearly three years ago, and in that time he had never left it out of arms reach- it was too precious to him.

The plane shook violently. More screams filled his ears, adults and children fearing for their lives. But he did not cry out- after all, he had been a leader of a team who had faced death every day once, and he always led by example.

And he would be damned if he was to be a bad example here.

"BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!" the pilot shouted franticly over the radio, and the young man bent down between his knees, fingers interlacing over the back of his head as he closed his eyes.

Suddenly a feeling came over him, a sense that if he stayed as he was, he was going to die. He could not understand it, even though he had felt it before in the Digital World. It was a feeling of danger, of alert, like he had to move... Now!

Quickly, he unsnapped his belt and leapt into the aisle, just in time to feel the jolt of the plane hitting the water of the Pacific Ocean and to see that same water smashing it's way up the cabin. It hit him with all the force of a brick wall, taking him along with it's flow towards the plane's rear. He was abruptly stopped as it came to the bulkhead that ended the front section of the plane, throwing him into the plastic dividing wall and creating a dent which closely matched his body shape. He fell forward into the freezing water, trying to stay conscious. He had to get out!

The man looked to his right, seeing a collection of boxes built into the wall. He knew what he needed- a life vest of some kind-

There!

Spluttering in the now neck-deep water, he pulled at the box labelled in typewriter print 'life raft', revealing a bright yellow bundle of rubber and plastic. A gasp to the side alerted him to a air hostess, sitting backwards in relation to which way the plane flew, in a cabin crew designated seat. Their eyes met, and he made to call to her to unbuckle her belt. But he was cut off as the plane groaned, and split like a tube of paper above them.

He leapt in shock as it all came apart, sending the front quarter of the aircraft, along with passengers and crew, down into the murky depths. But the last thing he saw was the hostess, looking into his eyes and screaming in terror as best she could in the water as she was pulled down with it. The man barely noticed that he had automatically pulled the ripcord on the raft. It inflated in a moment, pulling him upwards through the newly presented hole towards the surface.

As he broke into the air, he gasped at how cold and dark everything was under the merciless downpour of rain. He pulled himself onto his raft, trying to blot the image of the dying passengers and hostess entombed in the front of the plane from his mind, along with the thought that he very nearly joined them.

For a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to rest, before a high-pitched whine became known to his ears.

Eyes wide in horror, the young man turned to see a jet turbine engine slowly moving towards him and, just as frighteningly, the water. He knew what the liquid would do to it...

He had just enough time to move his hands up to shield his face before the blades touched the sea. The water shot into the machine, clogging the components and rupturing the fuel lines. A spark was all it took to make the thing explode into thousands of tiny pieces, shooting flame and shrapnel outwards.

The man was thrown from the yellow raft and into the sea, arms flailing by the force of the blast. He screamed in agony as he felt red-hot shards of metal impaling the left side of his face, cutting and melting skin. Just as he hit the water once more, he was sure he could smell burning flesh.

----------

Tai awoke from the nightmare, screaming in terror and phantom pain, clutching at the ruined part of his face. He snapped his eyes shut and grit his teeth, snarling in his will to calm himself down. But it was a pointless battle that he had no chance of winning, not with the content of the dream and the feelings of anger and confusion that had put him turmoil for the last two days since the 'party'. Just as he began to sob, loudly, the door to his room burst open and the lights flew on into a blinding glare.

Eyes still closed, the ex-castaway curled up under what was left of the sweaty bed sheets -most of them being now on the floor- and let himself go. He had been okay when he had initially returned from his island (most likely from not quite believing he was home), but only since the attempted 'welcome back' party on Wednesday had he really begun to think about things- about what he had missed, and about what had changed.

His mind just couldn't handle it- he needed this release.

A pair of fragile arms came down gently on him, shaking him as if they were trying to wake him from sleep. But, lost in his mind, Taichi did not feel them, and he continued to cry.

Kari looked up from where her older brother lay crying like a lost child, turning to see TK clad in boxers and a shirt (his clothes of choice for sleeping in) hurrying in through the door. He looked at the older man, expression mirroring her own, and asked,

"What happened?"

"I- I don't know... You heard him scream too, right? I just came in here, and he was crying..." Kari replied as she moved down to try to comfort the weeping man.

"He must have had a nightmare or something..." TK said as he moved around to the other side of the bed to offer support like she was. "What do you think it was about?"

"I don't know..."

"Something from the island? You know how he avoids telling anyone about what happened there..."

Kari didn't have an answer to that. It was a fair guess, but they couldn't know for certain unless he told them so.

"C'mon Tai!" she whispered into his ear. "Don't cry! Everything's alright, just calm down..."

He appeared to hear her in some way, because his cries began to quiet down. However he did not fall silent, as it soon became apparent that he was mumbling something over and over again.

"What's he saying?" TK asked.

"Listen..."

They stopped, trying to do just that. It wasn't easy, but eventually they could hear Tai's words even though his mouth was partially covered as he clutched at his ruined face.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Please... I'm... Sorry..." he said, repeating constantly and broken only by an occasional sob.

"Tai..." Kari said, tears running down her cheeks, "Don't worry, you're okay... They'll forgive you, Matt isn't angry anymore, they all want to see you again... They want to be your friends, Tai, listen to me..."

What she didn't realise however was that he was not only referring to his outburst at the other Digidestined. No, he was begging for forgiveness from the passengers who died whilst he lived. Even though there was very little he could have done, his attitude to life had never allowed him to let it go. It had been worse early on when he was on the island, for all he could see when he slept were the terrified eyes of the airhostess.

And then, of course, was the chaos that he had caused with his return. He was truly sorry for the mess he had made in people's lives, but it was not as if his time alone had shown him nothing. 

Because the... incident... at the summit of the island had taught him one thing- that he should never give up.

----------

The next day flew by, leading quickly up to the show in which Sora's products would be displayed. It had been a quiet day, one which Kari and TK had spent reading, watching TV, and even playing Monopoly. Tai remained staring at the television with empty eyes, lost in memories.

Indeed, he had often been dreaming of events over the past six years, but never had it been so intense. He could still hear the cries of people on the plane, and the whine of the engine...

His flatmates had, of course, asked about the events of last night. They wanted to know what had scared him so much, and eventually (though with great reluctance), he had told them.

Tai sat at the dinner table, hands clamped tightly around a mug of tea, ignorant of how it burnt. The glove, still on, protected his right hand anyway.

"So... what happened?" asked Takeru from his position to Tai's left, concern evident in his eyes. Tai looked up from contemplating the bubbles on the surface of his warm drink, and stared at the younger man in the manner that he had done so when he had met him once more back in the hospital.

But, he lacked the strength at this moment of time to keep it up, and soon his head dropped back down to focus upon his tea.

"Tai," Kari said in support, "please tell us... We can't help you otherwise."

They had asked him many times about the island, what he had done there, how he had survived, but each time he had either avoided the question or simply replied with 'I'll tell you later'. It were as if he were trying to forget it, but now... they would not let him.

But he couldn't forget right now. And he had to tell –someone-.

"Do... Do you think I'm ugly?" he asked as the index finger of his left hand began to lightly trace the scars on his face.

"No!" they had immediately responded, rushing with negatives to answer the question. He almost grinned at their vehemence, such loyalty...

"I know I am," he said quietly. "I'm hideous... Do you want to know why? Why my face is like this?"

The other two quickly fell quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"I dreamt of when it happened. It was when the plane crashed... There was a storm, I think it did something but... No one seems to know. We fell thousands of feet, people, children, screaming all the way. Before we hit the water, I released my belt and grabbed a life raft, and then the plane fell apart around me. Everyone else went down with it, only I got out... I could see all of them looking at me, and their eyes... I feel like they are accusing me of letting them die...

"I surfaced before one of the engines. It hit the water and exploded... The heat and shrapnel did this to me."

He slowly looked at Takeru and Kari steadily.

"I don't care if I'm ugly... In fact, I want to be. I deserve to be, because I lived whilst everyone else died."

He was hit with reassurances that it was not his fault that everyone had died, but then it wasn't just seeing them falling into the blackness. No, because it had been reinforced by an event a few days afterwards.

He told them then of the body of a young woman, and how it had been washed up on the shore of the island. The corpse was hideous- floating in the freezing waters for four days had caused it not only to begin to decompose, but to turn a sickening blue.

He had taken various garments off her (with a rule not to take anything to 'reveal' her –he held a great deal of respect and pity for this woman- followed by checking her pockets for anything useful. About the only thing worthwhile that such an activity had produced was a small torch which, by some miracle, still worked. It appeared to be a special present because engraved on the side were the words,

"Lisa,

        May this help you find your way in the darkest places.

                                                        Love,

                                                                John"

He had also found a wallet/purse type item that held some money, an ID card, and a family photo.

Tai had assumed that the person whom she was standing by was this 'John', and that the young boy in front of them was their son.

Following this, he had done everything he could to give her a decent send-off. He'd dug a grave (which was unfortunately a little too short, making him fold her legs up to make her fit- he couldn't help but notice how, rather than fold, they sort of 'flopped' as though they were broken) and scratched her name into a large nearby rock. Crude, but then it was the best he could do.

"Tai, the engine exploding..." Kari asked, putting two and two together, "is something like that why you keep covering your hand?"

"Partially... But I find doing so comforting. Please don't take it away from me," he had replied cryptically. And on the subject of the time on the island, he would say no more.

Of course, there were other reasons for his breakdown- but how could they even begin to understand how strange everything was for him? How different everything was? He could not tell them. Not yet.

But perhaps someday...

That had happened early before breakfast, for which the Takashis had been thankful, because it had given them time to recover from the disturbing story. But the fact that there was obviously more like that locked away in Tai's head did not help matters.

But now was the time to put it aside, because the three, along with Davis, were now sitting in a taxi and were well on their way to the Odaiba concert hall, to meet Sora and the rest of the Digidestined for the presentation. TK and Kari were attempting to make light conversation, whilst Davis nervously fidgeted with an occasional glance over to the man who, he could not deny, was still his idol. As for Tai himself, he merely looked out of the window for the entire journey, not saying a word. His mind was a million miles away, lost somewhere out in the Pacific.

Soon, they pulled up near to a large cylindrical building, stopping outside the main doors. They got out of the taxi, the two goggle boys and the brown-haired girl moving around to look at the entryway whilst TK paid the driver. It drove away, and the blonde moved up by them.

They were dressed smartly for the occasion, Kari wearing a rather flash red dress whilst TK wore a suit and Davis a tuxedo (of course, the Takashis did not fail to point out that it was the exact same tuxedo which he had worn to the last school dance, nearly three years ago- the cheapskate). Tai was reluctant to part with his adopted clothing, so a compromise had been reached with smart-ish black trousers, white shirt and tie, accompanied by the warm green coat.

At least, that was what he had worn at first, before he had replaced the tie for a black sweater. It wasn't that he didn't like the tie though, it was just that the mere idea of wrapping anything around his neck right now made him feel physically sick.

The four moved towards the doors, going with the flow of people who were now going in. Upon getting there, they were met by the sight of the Digidestined and friends gathered in the lobby, all of who looked up from their various groups to see them.

They appeared pleased at the sight of Davis, TK, and Kari but at the same time somewhat distraught regarding their old leader. Whilst the former three moved towards the large group quickly, Tai lagged behind with his shoulders slumped. They were all there, unlike at the party, for now as well as Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Ken, Yolei, and that new girl, there was also Joe (tall as ever, complete with wire-rimmed glasses, though his hair was once again short as it had been when he was first in the Digital World), Cody (looking refined and calm as always with his classic closely cropped hair), and Jun (who took him a moment to recognise- she was taller now, and had longer hair reaching down to her shoulders rather than those odd spikes). However he refused to meet the eyes of anyone, until his sister, accompanied by an extremely nervous Sora and a man who he had never seen before, moved directly before him.

Slowly, his eyes rolled upwards to look the three with what almost appeared to be a cross between boredom and confusion.

"Hey Tai?" Kari said, catching his full attention. "Sora has someone here she wants you to meet."

A slight frown appeared on his brow as he looked to the red-haired woman. She hesitated, as though for a moment she was unable to speak, before finally saying,

"Tai... Um, this is Aoba, my manufacturer. He takes my designs and makes them for me..."

His eyes quickly switched from her to the man designated as Aoba. Indeed, he looked as he had been described in the café- shoulder length brown hair and a clean, thin, smiling face.

"Mr. Kamiya!" he greeted with a short bow, "I am honoured to meet you! I've heard a great deal about your story on the television, and I must say, you are a hero! A man victorious over nature and her elements!"

Tai found himself zoning out as the man rambled on how he had inspired him to make a song. He really didn't care much, but he was in no mood to waste the effort in getting him to shut up. Thankfully, he was soon interrupted as another new person turned up.

"Hey Sora!" she said smoothly, "Who's the cutie?"

His head turned to the right to look directly at her, and he noted with a hint of amusement that she recoiled slightly when the scarred side of his face became visible. She was about Sora's height, and had reddish-brown hair reaching down to her neck, accompanied by bright blue eyes. Sora grimaced in badly hidden annoyance at the appearance of her flirtatious rival.

"...Taichi, this is Mana Kirishima, my main competitor. Mana, this is Taichi Kamiya, an... Old friend."

"Oh! Mr Kamiya, from the news, right?"

He responded by deepening his frown slightly, followed by a quiet "Yes".

"Wow, I'm so glad to meet you! You're like a celebrity!"

Tai could feel a headache coming on at this woman's annoying tone of voice.

"You must have been quite a man to have survived so long by yourself..." she said with a wink. 

'Oh yes, a headache alright,' Tai thought to himself.

"So... Are you here by yourself tonight? Single, Mr. Kamiya?"

'Scratch that, make it a migraine.'

He could have said that he wasn't interested of course. He could have moved a bit closer to the now angry looking Sora, who was busy glaring at her rival. He could have shot out a nasty remark. But he knew that, with someone like Mana, none of those ideas would have worked, and besides, he didn't want to give Sora the wrong idea with the second option.

So, he did something different.

"No, thank you Miss Kirishima, but I am not here alone." He looked up from her and over her shoulder. "Hey Davis," he called as he brushed past the outgoing woman, smirking slightly as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the implication sink in.

Taichi moved to the younger man who, oblivious to the conversation with Mana, looked up at him with hope that his role model wasn't angry with him.

"Do you know where I could get a glass of ice around here?" the ex-castaway asked.

----------

Thus, Tai had managed to engross himself in a conversation with Mr. Motomiya, not simply to catch up with the events in life of the younger version of himself, but as a tactical solution to avoid talking to anyone else. He just knew that, were he not talking to Davis, then Matt or Izzy or someone would have come over to talk. And he didn't want to deal with them, not yet, anyway.

Regardless of such matters however, it had been quite an interesting conversation. Davis was, after all, an interesting person, and it had certainly been amusing to hear about how he had got his job at the café.

'I can cook! I can cook! I can cooooook!!!' his mind called to him, giving the nineteen year old Davis an enormous sense of well being as he strolled through the streets of Odaiba.

Well, strolled was a very lose term.

You see, he had just learnt that he had a talent in the kitchen, for which he was very grateful- he was a better cook than TA! –um, TK! And he intended to make the most of it, so he had decided to show his happiness in the best way possible.

Strut!

He moved down the streets in much the manner of John Travolta in the opening scene of 'Saturday Night Fever', ignorant of the strange looks he was getting from passers by. Because, he was Davis, he had his goggles, and he was God in the kitchen!

Surely he could get a good job now! Like... In a restaurant! Or maybe he could get his own restaurant!

It was then that he came across the café built on a street corner, posted with a 'help wanted' sign. He debated with himself whether he should take it or not, finally deciding that he had to start somewhere.

With a grin rivalling that of the Cheshire Cat, he entered the building. 

Shortly after Davis had finished his story, they had entered the main hall. It had been arranged with a catwalk down the centre as an extension from the normal stage. Seats had been placed around it in a horseshoe-crescent pattern, going back to fill the hall. At full capacity, there would be hundreds of people watching. 

Their designated seats were placed three rows back and near an aisle, just behind where the businessmen with their contracts would be. It was apparently as far forward as Sora had been able to get them due to how so many of the Digidestined had turned up at the last minute. She had apologised repeatedly for it (most of the time, Tai had noticed, when she was around him), before disappearing backstage once they had all sat down.

Tai had positioned himself with Davis to his right and Kari and TK to his left. The others he took no notice of.

"Hey Tai," Davis' voice came from his side as the lights began to darken and the presentation began, "why do you think that Miss Kirishima keeps looking at us like that?"

Tai didn't answer for a moment, instead looking at where the lad was gesturing. He could see Mana, heading towards the backstage door, who was looking at them as if their faces had just turned green.

"Oh," he said easily, "I made her think that we were gay."

"WHAT?!? Why did you do that?! She's HOT Tai!" the younger man spluttered. Tai looked down at him tiredly.

"I'm sorry if that offends you, Davis. But there are more to people than their appearances, and the way she was coming on to me earlier tells me that she is quite a player. Someone I would not want to be involved with.

"The only thing I could think of that would get rid of her was to give the impression that I was gay, and... It worked."

"But... You could have suggested TK, couldn't you? I'm not like that..." Davis responded quietly.

"Nah, Takeru's married. She would have seen his ring. I didn't want to risk it. I know that you aren't attracted to men though, and no one will hear of what I did. I won't tell anyone."

"Yeah, well... Jeez, I need a girlfriend."

Tai chuckled quietly, and replied,

"Don't worry Davis. You will find someone." He paused, then added with a wink, "And don't be so homophobic."

Tai could only chuckle as the younger man punched him lightly in the shoulder, but soon a smile hit Davis as he realised that his idol appeared to have forgiven him about the party incident- otherwise he wouldn't be teasing him so.

Things were looking better for the two old friends.

----------

If Tai were to describe the show, he would have done do in three words: loud, bright, and confusing. Models had walked up and down the catwalk under flashing bright lights, to the sound of music of which Tai had never heard. That, combined with noise from some of the crowd, made him feel dizzy.

So, he had snuck out with the excuse that he was going to the toilet. It was a lie, of course, for he had no intention of going there- all he wanted to do was go somewhere quiet for a while.

Tai had wondered around the building, finding all sorts of passageways and corridors. Six years ago, he would have stayed around the lobby, but this place was so fascinating. It was huge to him, for he had not been anywhere like this for over seven years. Not surprising then that he found that he couldn't help but wonder wherever his eyes took him.

But all good things must come to an end, and soon he turned to find his way back.

After ten minutes of that, Tai decided that he was lost.

'Damn', he thought, 'and to think that I found the island hard to get around...'

He was heading down a service corridor, littered with boxes containing what appeared to be costumes for performances. There were no signs signalling where he was however, so he decided that he should just follow the passage- it was sure to take him somewhere. Hopefully somewhere where someone could tell him how to get back to the main hall.

As he neared a corner, a smile touched his lips as voices became apparent. People! He could ask them!

The ex-castaway's pace increased and he sped up. He turned the corner, opening his mouth to ask a question, when he abruptly recognised who was talking.

About ten metres away stood Mana and Aoba, talking in hushed voices.

His face immediately took on a frown as he quickly moved into a shadow behind a large cardboard box, and strained his ears to hear them.

He could barely make out their voices, and he realised that if he were to find out what they were speaking of, he would have to get closer.

For a normal person, such a feat would be next to impossible. But then, Taichi Kamiya was not normal, for not only was he a Digidestined, but he had also learnt how to move silently whilst not being seen over the past six years. After all, what use is being able to kill a fish if one couldn't get close to it?

Silently he drew up his coat's hood over his head, allowing it to cast his face into darkness, and dropped onto all fours. Then with cat-like grace, he crept forwards whilst keeping to every shadow available to avoid being detected.

When he judged he was close enough, Tai moved next to a small box, one that whilst not large enough to render him invisible behind it, would provide adequate cover for him to merge. He crouched so that his coat covered him completely, casting it around himself to make it look like no more than an old dark green tarpaulin, whilst allowing himself a small gap to see the pair.

Then... He listened.

"So you've done the work then?" Mana asked sharply in a tone completely void of the playfulness of when she had spoken to Tai earlier.

"Yeah. I altered some of the designs to make them... dangerous. The results should be appearing anytime now." Aoba answered quietly.

"Good. Here."

She reached out with a wad of money, handing it quickly to the longhaired man, and said,

"I trust we will be doing business again soon, Mr. Aoba?"

"Of course, Miss Kirishima. I always enjoy doing business with you."

They separated, quickly moving in opposite directions and leaving Tai to ponder this odd bit of information.

'Alterations? What did he mean?'

He decided to find out.

Once the two had moved out of sight, he stealthily ran after Aoba to find out where he was going. He soon caught up and melted into the shadows, following him like a stalker.

And after four minutes of doing so, Tai noted with surprise that they were back by the main lobby. He continued to follow Aoba, and watched as he walked into the main hall where the show was being held.

Tai found himself frowning as he looked at where the man had disappeared.

"There you are!"

The call made him blink, and he looked to his right to see TK jogging towards him.

"I've been looking all over for you!" he said as he got close. "Come on," he continued, "Sora's stuff will be on soon."

Takeru waved him towards the hall entrance, to which he walked still frowning.

'Alterations...'

As the pair moved towards where the rest of the group was seated, Tai noticed that Sora had joined them, and was sitting next to the aisle. She looked around at them, and gestured to the catwalk.

"Looks like it's her part of the show," TK said as they stopped by her.

Tai looked to where she had gestured, and watched as new models began to appear. They were wearing dresses which, he noticed with slightly raised eyebrows, looked a lot like the one Kari was wearing. He leant closer to Takeru to ask if indeed they were of the same make, when he was interrupted by a shrill scream.

His head snapped back to the models, only to witness a sight which he thought he would never see.

Hell, he'd never imagined such a thing anyway.

The dresses were literally falling apart as they moved, tearing with all the ease of tissue paper. The models who had already fallen victim to this were screaming whilst doing their best to cover their underwear-clad forms. 

"Oh my God..." TK murmured as the presentation fell into chaos. 

Tai could only agree. He looked down and to his right to see Sora, first watching her designs fall to ruin, then looking up at him with tear stained eyes.

She let out a strangled sob as she leapt up and shoved past him, running out of the hall without looking back.

"Sora!" he shouted, "Wait!" but she did not slow, and was soon out of sight.

He turned back to see the rest of the group, some standing and some not, looking at him as though they did not know what to do.

His right hand began to twitch violently, but he clenched it in an effort to calm it. 'Adjustments indeed', he thought as he looked back to the door through which Sora had run. 

Eight years ago, he would have followed her.

Seven, he perhaps would have gone to look for her later.

But now... He did nothing. Nor did he plan to because, after all, it was none of his business.


	6. Do or Die

Thank you once more for your nice reviews! They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside... :-) 

To be honest, I am not entirely happy with this chapter, so I may well revise it at some point. It seems too quick to me- but oh well. I plan on changing a few things later anyway, so it isn't much of a problem.

Oh, and I fell I should highlight the fact that Tai learnt a number of things in Chapter 4 on Sora's business- just in case you forgot. It becomes important now.

Read and review!

CHAPTER 6: IT IS JUST TO DO OR DIE 

The show organisers had done an admirable job of pulling everything back together, considering what exactly had happened. It had continued after the madness had ended; yet the group did not remain, leaving after Mimi (Yolei soon following suit) and Kari's repeated words on how they had to follow Sora and see if she was all right. 

The three girls had separated, their respective boyfriends (and husband) going with them. The rest had remained at the main entrance, not really knowing what to do with themselves.

Tai stood away from them all, forefinger and thumb slowly stroking his chin in a gesture of thought. Indeed, he was thinking, trying to understand exactly what was going so wrong with Sora's business, and how to solve such a... Conundrum. 

But with what he knew, finding the answer was not exactly difficult. At least, a theory was not hard to form. He couldn't be sure if he was correct yet though- that would take time.

Still, what was far more disturbing was that it appeared that no one else had any suspicions more than bad work on Sora's part. And that spoke volumes to Tai.

What the _hell_ had happened to their comradeship? Was this a repetition of when he had been pulled out of the Digital World during their first adventure- was the lack of a strong leader causing them to separate?

Such was the flow of Tai's thoughts, broken every few minutes as he reminded himself that this was supposed to be none of his business.

"Um... Mr. Kamiya?" came a voice nearby, causing Tai to focus and see the brown-haired girl whom he did not know standing before him

"Yes?" he said quietly.

"Hi," she continued with a polite smile. "I'm Katie, Matt's girlfriend."

"Really? Congratulations," came the bland reply. This appeared to greatly faze the girl but did not break her, for she soon pressed on.

"Um... He told me a lot about you, you know. He said that you were the leader of the group..."

"What's your point?"

She said nothing more, but instead gestured behind him. He half-turned, only to see that the group had formed itself into a semi-circle around him.

He refused to face them all front on, instead remaining with his shoulder pointing at them. Their inquisitive looks spoke volumes-

'What should we do?'

Tai found himself scowling. 'What, they just _expect_ me to have the answer?' he thought. He was about to express his annoyance, when the voice of his sister gave him a new piece of information as she and TK returned.

"No sign of her..." He turned away from the group to look down at her. "What do you think we should do?"

"Go home," he said simply as some spots of rain began to fall.

---------

"Jeez! I know we screwed up with the party, and I know he doesn't like us much now, but _surely_ he gives a damn about Sora!" Matt shouted as he punched at the nearest wall.

"I don't know Matt. Tai has a lot of issues that he has to sort through, and Sora is just one of them."

"...yeah, I guess so Cody. But it just gets me so pissed off! I mean, doesn't he care at all?"

"I think he does," the youngest of the Digidestined said, "More than he is comfortable with. Give him time."

"...hey," Jun suddenly said, where's Joe?"

----------

Only a moment after Kari, TK and Taichi entered the apartment, a knock was heard on the front door. Takeru had rushed to answer it in the hope that it was Sora, but instead was met with the face of a certain blue-haired doctor.

"Oh... Hi. Why are you here?"

"May I come in TK? I need to talk with Taichi..."

"Sure, sure."

Tai stood in the living room of the flat, looking out of the patio windows at the now heavily falling rain. Clad still in the clothes from the show, coat and all, he looked somewhat like he had when on the top of his island looking out at the sea. And of course he had heard the brief exchange of words and indeed recognised the newcomer's voice. What to think of the newcomer himself, though, he did not know.

The ex-castaway clasped his hands behind his back and turned to regard the older man, now walking towards him with TK and Kari in tow.

"Hello Joe," he said calmly.

"Hi, Taichi," the doctor replied with a smile. "It's been a while since we have really talked- how are you?"

"About as well as could be expected, I guess."

"Ah, that's good to know."

Tai watched as TK and Kari moved into the kitchen, apparently to give some privacy, whilst thinking of why exactly the doctor had come over. So, he asked.

"Why are you here, Joe?"

"Why? Well, I wanted to meet you again. I've missed you, Tai."

Tai found himself surprised at the comment. Joe was not here for guilt, for fun, but just... To be a friend again.

He allowed a small smile to touch him as the doctor bowed in greeting.

"I'm... Glad," he said slowly. "But is that all?"

"Of course. You don't know what you have until it's gone, right? I guess I didn't realise how much of a friend you were until you left. I don't think any of us did."

"...huh?"

"You know what happened today? Most of us have had failings like that, but never as extreme. Every time when you weren't around, things never got better. We just got further and further apart."

Tai frowned.

"So, I'm just good for holding you together, right? That's all?"

"Not all. It's just part of it. What I am trying to say is... Well, to make a start in helping each other now, we need courage. Without it, we will soon be broken."

"So you're telling me that I have to get everyone working together again? You just think that you can walk in here, and tell me what to do, is that it?"

"No, no," Joe said reassuringly, "what I mean is that only you, after all that has happened, has the courage to forgive and move on. "

"I... I dunno, Joe," Tai said, turning away and looking back out of the window. "So much has changed. What's to say that, if I were to forgive them, they wouldn't just go and forget me again?"

Joe sighed.

"Tai... Please, I- I beg you not to hold a grudge against them, and against us. Don't be stubborn. If you want their respect, show them you are deserving of it, please...

"You know, the fact that you survived alone says that you wanted to come back to us..."

Unseen to Joe, Tai's right hand slipped into his pocket and held onto something more precious to him than all the gold in the world. Indeed, there was something he wanted to return to, but the truth was that it didn't exist anymore. 

But now, here was an opportunity to _make_ it exist once again.

"In all honesty, I can't believe that you haven't learnt anything," Joe continued. "I mean, you act so differently now, so... seriously. I don't see a headstrong boy in you anymore. I see a man who is fully capable of looking at what is happening around him and making the right decision.

"Remember, Tai, you must do what you feel is right."

"Yeah... I know, I know. But... I'm scared, Joe. I couldn't stand it if they would forget me again..."

Joe smiled gently.

"You don't need to worry about that. I don't think anyone could forget you now, anyway."

And Tai found himself feeling content. Calm too, as though everything was going to be all right...

Yes. He could trust Joe. Old reliable Joe.

"For better or for worse," the older man said, "The Digidestined are slowly splitting. I mean, it took your 'resurrection' to bring them together; not even New Years Eve parties can do that anymore. It just goes to show, you _are_ a pivotal point, and always shall be.

"I... Think I can understand about the team breaking. I mean, if we were all still a team, then we would not be in the state we are now, and _someone _would have put the pieces together."

Now it was Joe's turn to be confused.

"What do you mean?"

Tai paused, then said flatly,

"I have been thinking about events, and this is what I have come up with; there is nothing wrong with Sora's designs, Joe. Nothing at all. The problems are with the products themselves..."

"But that would mean that someone is changing them. Who would do that?"

They were silent for a while.

"Surely not Aoba," Joe said with a frown, "he isn't the type."

"I'm not going to point the finger, not until I am certain. That would cause more damage than good."

Those words, hinting that Tai was indeed going to do something to help the situation, caused the young Doctor to feel a grin taking over him. But, he fought it, lest he cause his old leader to change his mind.

"You... Have a plan?" he asked hesitantly.

"Perhaps," Tai replied. "But it depends on many things. What do you want out of it?"

"Huh?" Joe asked, thrown by the question.

"If I had a plan... What result would you want?"

"I don't know... For all of us to be a team again, I guess."

"I agree."

They were silent once again, neither having anything more that needed to be said, but inside Tai's head, a plan was forming, one which –he hoped- would hit two goals at once. And all the while, his hand was deep inside his coat pocket, fingering a silver disk which was, and held, something more important to him than anything else in the world.

It was that which made the decision for him. It gave him his own personal goals, and the way to reach them.

He knew what had to be done.

Soon Joe felt the urge to say something more- however he was cut off when Taichi abruptly spun on his heel and walked towards the hallway, and, front door.

"Kari," he said, voice filled with confidence that had only been present back when they were in the Digital World, "I'm going out."

"Where to?" the petite woman asked, appearing out of the kitchen and attempting to keep up with his long stride but not doing a very good job of it.

The man paused, turned, and said enigmatically,

"To find the key."

----------

Along the Odaiba seafront, benches were placed to allow anyone with a moment to spare in the course of their busy lives to look out at the wonder the sea was. Naturally, this meant that they weren't used often, and even less often at this time of year, seeing as it could get cold very quickly- but Sora didn't care much for that at the moment.

She had run straight here, sat, and dimply cried for hours, because, in her mind, she had lost everything. Her business was a shambles, her reputation was tarnished, and she was certain that Tai hated her.

The now-constant rain seemed to reflect her mood.

"You'll get a cold if you stay out here," someone suddenly said. She gasped in surprise and turned around in to see a tall man dressed in an old dark green overcoat, it's hood pulled up over his head making him appear to look somewhat like a spectre or death.

But no, she knew who this was, and couldn't decide which was better or worse.

"How... How did you find me?"

"I've been looking around for you for hours. I happened to see someone in a fancy dress sitting here in the rain and, well, there aren't many people in that sort of situation at one o'clock in the morning."

"You should go home Tai..." she said as the turned away and looked back out to sea. "Colds are going to be more dangerous to you than me."

She could have sworn that he chuckled at that.

"No," came his reply as he sat down on the opposite side of the bench from her, leaving a noticeable gap between them. He pulled his hood back, revealing his scarred face. "The doctors say I have a heightened immune system, and besides, I have a coat. And you don't."

"So? Why do you care?" She sniffled, trying not to start crying again.

He was silent for a while, seeming to be debating with himself about what to say to the red-haired woman. Eventually he spoke in a quiet but firm voice,

"Because I don't like to see you like this."

Her head whipped up to look at him in surprise, causing bits of water to spay from her hair. He remained where he was, looking dead ahead with his arms crossed, raindrops gathering beneath his nose and chin and matting down his hair.

"Huh?" was all she was able to say.

"You are in trouble, Sora. That much is clear. What interests me is _why_. When we were best friends, you put all you had into everything, and I can't believe that you would change into someone who produces clothes that fall apart. It doesn't suit your character."

"I... I just messed up," she whispered.

"In a way, yes you did," he said again surprising her. She wouldn't have thought he would have heard her. "But only indirectly. You see, I have a theory of what is happening. I don't want to tell it in case I am wrong- that would cause more harm than good, but I am sure that I'm close."

Sora looked back forwards and out to sea again.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

He sighed, slowly pushing himself to his feet.

"I am going to make you an offer," he said as he turned to face her dead-on. "I think I know what is going on. I think I know how to stop it, and I think I know how to get you and your business on it's feet again.

"I will warn you, however, that this will not be easy, and it isn't guaranteed to work. Anything could go wrong at any time, and in the end it may fail. But, it is your life and your decision."

He held out his hand to her in the manner of a business partner.

"Will you accept?"

For a minute, she merely looked at him in surprise, but eventually began to slowly reach out towards him.

"Remember," he said halting her before they made contact. "I only have a plan. I cannot guarantee any results. I'm only showing you the door- _you_ must walk through it."

She looked him in the eye, and felt a smile appearing on her face. Here was Tai, with a plan, offering her his help. He would make things better- she _knew_ that he would. He always did.

In the back of her mind, she realised that she had thought a similar thing around two weeks before. And, she mused, her wish had come true.

With no doubt in her mind, she grasped his hand in hers, and shook it gently.

"Very well," he said. "Meet me tomorrow at 1pm in Kari's flat. Call the others, and ask them if they want to help. If they do, bring them along. Then, we can get started and sort this all out. Can you do that?"

"Sure, it's Sunday so it's a day off for me... And I'll call everyone!"

Her now beaming smile was infectious, and Tai soon found himself reflecting it- to a minor extent.

"Good. But before I go, I have two questions."

"...what are they?"

"First, the dress Kari was wearing last night- did you make it?"

"Yeah, I designed it and put it together myself... It was a preview of what I could do. I made a few mistakes when I was making it, but I learnt from them..."

"Okay, and second, do you have any dresses from earlier that were not used?"

"One or two, I think... I'll have to look."

"Try and get hold of an intact one, and bring it with you."

"Alright... But why?"

"To test my theory. Trust me, it will be useful."

He looked back out to the sea for a moment, then said,

"Now, Sora. Go home. You'll feel much better in the morning, and I promise that I will do all I can to help you. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay... and thank you, Taichi."

He said nothing to that, instead walking towards the road and signalling to an approaching taxi. She quickly followed.

"You have some money, right?"

"Yeah," she replied and gestured to her handbag. "But what about you? How are you going to get home?"

"I'll walk," he said whilst pulling up his hood. "I kinda like the rain... It's refreshing."

"But... You'll get soaked!"

"I already am," he said as he opened the taxi door and gently pushed her towards it. "And so are you. Don't worry about me, I'm used to getting wet. It rained a lot on my island, you know."

She was about to protest again, but he raised a finger between them, a motion asking her to be silent.

"Let me walk. I need to think, and I do that best when I walk. Go home, Sora, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Reluctantly, she got into the vehicle and it drove away. But, she never broke eye contact with him as they parted. 

Tai couldn't help but note with a small smile that this was almost exactly the same as when he had first got off the container ship- only with roles reversed.

Fate, it seemed, had an odd sense of irony.

The ex-castaway spent no more time there though, departing after a moment to go back to the Takashi's flat, his mind already working at what he had to do.

And, indeed, he did have a plan. He just hoped that it would work.

----------

"...hel... hello?"

"Izzy?"

"Wha, Sora? Where are you, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine... Sorry to get you up at this hour, but, uh..."

"What's wrong? Do you need some help?"

"Tai came and talked to me... He offered to help-"

"Help? With your business?"

"Yes."

"Has he forgiven us?!"

"I don't know... He didn't say that he had, he just said that I should call the guys and get them to meet at TK and Kari's apartment. He has a plan, I think."

"Prodigious! When?"

"One in the afternoon..."

"Okay, I guess Mimi and I can be there. Look, you've had a rough day, Sora- you go to bed and I'll call everyone. I have their hotel numbers and all on my laptop, so it will only take a few minutes."

"...okay. Thanks Izzy."

"Goodnight, Sora."

----------

TK was grinning like an idiot.

It was a grin which was, normally, withheld for special occasions, such as when he was more intoxicated than he should be, and this most definitely stood in a special occasion.

The team was being recalled for a meeting.

That alone would have made him happy, for such an event had not happened for over seven years- but what made this extra special was that it was _Tai_ who had called the meeting. Tai, who for the best part of those seven years had effectively been dead.

The man in question was sitting in the dining area of the main room, reading and writing on some sheets of paper which appeared to be from a bank. No one had asked what exactly he was doing, because he was concentrating on his task quite a bit, and neither of the Takashis wanted to disturb him.

He and Kari were getting the flat ready for the meeting, preparing drinks and food, as well as moving chairs, a sofa, and even beanbags around for form an oval shape in front of the patio window. TK could tell that his wife was pleased too; she would often start humming, something she only did when she felt content. 

For once it seemed like everything was going to be okay- and all because Tai had had an abrupt change of heart. 

Thanks to Joe.

Soon a knock came on the door, and Kari opened it to reveal Sora. The Takashis greeted her with relief that she was okay, and ushered her into the flat. Upon seeing Tai, she smiled and offered a small wave. He nodded in response.

"Tai?" she said, "I managed to get one of the dresses. Where should I put it?"

"Just leave it on the table, next to Kari's" he replied whilst pointing to the red dress about a metre away from him. Sora placed a similar pink one next to it.

Kari then took Sora to the kitchen, where the two and TK began to chat (and wonder at what exactly Tai would want them to do). It was still a few minutes until one as the redhead had arrived a bit early, but soon the others arrived and began to take their places by the patio- all of them also wondering what, exactly, was going to happen.

They soon got their answer as Tai folded his bank forms, slipped them into an envelope and stood. He picked up Kari's dress, and looked inside it at something, then did exactly the same to the one Sora had brought. A frown appeared on the ex-castaway's face, just before he looked over at the assembled Digidestined out of the corner of his eye, dropped both dresses back on the table, then moved towards the one remaining seat at the head of the group. As soon as he sat, they all fell silent and looked at him questioningly.

He addressed them in a calm and clear voice, whilst gazing around evenly.

"You are all probably wondering why you are here."

They did not reply, but their blank faces spoke volumes. Tai used the moment to sum up who was present.

'Kari, TK, Sora, Davis, Yolei, Ken, Cody, Joe, Jun, Matt, that Katie- Matt's girlfriend, Izzy, and Mimi... Everyone. Good. This will make things easier.'

"Well," he continued, "let me begin by making one thing very clear to you all. And I want you to remember this."

He stood again, and slowly began to pace around the group, speaking as if he was addressing an army unit. 

"I don't care who you are. I don't care who you were, nor do I care who you will be. I don't care where you live. I don't care what your jobs are. I don't care about your sex. I don't care what clothes you wear, who your friends are, I don't even care whether you graduated or not."

His voice grew increasingly louder, highlighting what they all had to know and understand.

"The only thing, the ONLY thing, that I give a damn about is that all of you, excluding Jun and Miss Katie are and ALWAYS WILL BE Digidestined. But even the two girls are just as involved- they have to be to even be here now. As far as I am concerned, all of you are Digidestined, and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, means that we are a TEAM, and as a team, we work TOGETHER."

His slow trek around them ended as he moved behind Sora. 

"One of our number is in trouble. And, it appears, she has been for a long time."

He paused to let his words sink in, noting how everyone was beginning to look guilty in some way. Despite his feelings on guilt and how it would get in the way, he knew that he had to get through this- else nothing would come of his plan.

So, he pressed on.

"I'll be frank. I am absolutely TERRIFIED how no one, NO ONE had yet thought that there is more to Sora's predicament than meets the eye. How many of you, before this meeting began, thought that we were all close friends? How many of you trust everyone here? How many of you would lay down your lives for them? And how many of you care about their well-being? 

"Well, let's highlight the facts. Sora's case gives us an excellent opportunity.

"Sora. The bearer of the Crest of Love. Love relies on trust, right? Therefore, Sora is a very trusting person.

"Sora," he said now directly addressing her- though he remained standing behind her with a stern look on his face as if he were representing her in court, "do you trust the people who you work with?"

"Well... yes," she replied.

"Which means that you trust the people who give you contracts, the people who you compete against, such as Miss Kirishima, and the people who help you put your designs together- such as Mr. Aoba."

"Yeah..."

"Okay."

Silence.

"Now," he said whilst walking over to the two dresses. He picked up Kari's red one, and held it up for the group to see.

"This is something which Sora made herself- drew, cut, sewed, the whole lot. Now, you see, this is quite a dress- well made and all."

He moved it around in his hands, showing that it was indeed well made- and that, unlike the ones form the show, it stayed together.

"Exhibit A, everyone. Now, we move onto Exhibit B- one which was supposed to be worn at the show."

He put down the red dress, picked up the pink one, and held it up like he had with Kari's.

"Very nice, don't you think?" he said as he walked back to the group. He moved up to where he had been sitting at first, grasped it on either side, and pulled sharply in opposite directions.

They all gasped as it effortlessly tore right down the middle into two pieces. Tai threw them down in disgust.

"Now TELL ME, boys and girls, where is the second opinion? Where is the voice putting forward the idea that there is something very wrong going on? And why the hell has it not occurred to anyone that this sort of thing has only been happening since Miss Kirishima came on the scene, and only to items which Mr. Aoba's company have put together.

"Let me spell it out for you.

"You think you know each other. But you have lost touch. If you were still the team that you once were, then the events of last night would never have come around. Someone would have prevented it, one way or another.

"And that scares me."

He let the silence in the room speak for him as he sat back down, waiting to see what the group would draw from this.

It was a long wait, but eventually Matt said the words which spoke for all of them.

"I'm sorry," he said. They all soon copied him whilst Tai looked over them calmly.

"I do not want to force anything upon you," the old leader said quietly, "and I am sorry for having to present my thoughts so harshly. But it had to be said. You all have your own commitments and your own lives, but please, if you respect anything that happened when we were younger, then I ask for your help. I have a plan, and if it is to succeed, then I will need as many of you as possible."

"Um... Tai, how long would you need us for?" Izzy asked.

"My guess is four weeks, give or take."

"Well... I suppose I can work over here," the computer whiz said. "What do you think, Mimi?"

"I'll help Sora in any way that I can!" his girlfriend replied confidently.

"Matt," Katie said, "We can put the tour on hold for a few weeks..."

"Yeah... Yeah! We're in Tai!" the blonde said, a grin splitting his face. "It'll be good to kick some ass again!"

"Good," he replied. "Your band may be useful later on- is it possible to get them all over here to help?"

"You bet man!"

"Hey, you'll need a chef right?" Davis interrupted. Tai nodded. 

"Then I'm in!"

"So are we!" TK and Kari said at the same time. "We'll do whatever we can!"

"I always have enjoyed working with you all," Ken said in his refined manner. "If Yolei wants to help... Then I shall too."

"You bet we're gonna help hun!" the purple haired girl said, deciding the pair's involvement.

Cody was next, "My grandfather taught me that I should honour my friends. I shall lend my assistance Tai, for whatever you need me to do."

Finally, it came to the last two- Joe and Jun.

"Well," Joe said with a small smile, "it appears that we have got our leader back. I can use some of my holiday time to stay down here, so I shall- I've missed working as part of a team. Jun?"

"I agree! I want to help!" the girl said, shaking in excitement.

Tai leant back in his chair as the corners of his mouth perked up.

"Then, you are all willing to help."

They nodded collectively in reply, newfound determination in their eyes.

"So be it."

He let his words hang for a few moments, letting the conformation sink in, before rising once more from his chair.

"Okay. We may as well begin. Sora?"

"Yes, Tai?"

"Call Mr. Aoba and tell him that you have a number of people interested in making an investment with you- but these people want to know the whole system before they do so. Say that they want to meet him in his office as soon as possible."

"Alright, but who are they?"

Tai grinned dangerously.

"Us," he said. "You see, we are going to pay Mr. Aoba a little visit..."


	7. A Visit

My apologies for the wait, but it couldn't be helped. But I got there in the end, and that's what matters, right? Thank you once more for your kind reviews, it really means a lot that you take time to give me feedback on the story, and it is much appreciated. Thank you! :-)

Oh, and as a note, this chapter wasn't intended to be a chapter in itself at all. It was supposed to either be at the end of the previous one, or at beginning of the next, but as it went it turned out that it needed to be like this if I were to get in the detail I wanted. Besides, there is more of the whole gang in action now. ;-)

Enjoy, and please review!

CHAPTER 7: A VISIT 

It was not long before the group, with Taichi at the head, found themselves stood in a car park outside a large, pale green warehouse with a small office-like complex attached to the north end. It was just before 3pm- not long after the meeting, but this was something that Tai felt he had to get out of the way. Progress had to be made quickly.

They had taken Joe's car and the minibus that Matt had turned up in with Katie (Tai assumed that it was intended to transport his band, but it proved to be perfect to carry most of the numerous Digidestined) to the small make shift factory, stopping on the way only to allow some of them to change into more formal wear- Sora now donned a ladies business suit, as did Kari with TK in the male version. The rest, however, were fine as they were- Matt was a rock star, so he didn't need to look like a businessman, and Joe was already in a suit, complimentary to his chosen profession. The rest looked... well, normal, even Davis with Tai's old goggles planted firmly on his head.

Taichi himself refused to change from his casual clothes, saying that by the plan, he would need to be comfortable. And in his current clothes, he _was_ comfortable. Following this, he had briefed the Digidestined with his plan, giving them all roles to play once they arrived at Aoba's office.

And here they were.

"Alright. This is it everyone." Tai said crisply as he turned to address the group, his face becoming deadly serious. "Remember, stick to the plan, and everything will be fine. Sora?

"Hm?"

"You're up front. Where is Aoba likely to have your old designs stored?"

She thought for a moment before replying, "He has a filing cabinet near his desk, they are probably in there."

"Good. Now, Davis, this is perhaps the only time I'm not going to tell you to be careful, so make the most of it, okay?"

"Ha! You can count on me to mess things up, Tai!"

The older man's expression eased with amusement.

"Yeah, I know."

Davis blinked. "...hey, wait a sec-!"

Tai smoothly cut him off as he said, "The rest of you, you know what to do, don't you?"

"Sure!" they replied in unison.

"Excellent. Oh, one more thing... Ken?"

"Yes Tai?" the policeman-in-training answered.

"Whatever happens here, you didn't see it."

Ken grinned.

"Gotcha."

The ex-castaway looked over them carefully, taking a moment to see if they were prepared. They returned his gaze with quiet confidence, and small smiles.

They were ready.

Tai spun to face the doorway, and said,

"Let's go. Sora- take point. You know what to do."

There was a cheer from behind him, as Sora quickly moved to the head of the group and walked towards the main entrance. Tai followed closely with even strides, and the Digidestined moved behind him, quietening down and immediately bringing up an appearance of interest at their surroundings.

Tai suppressed a smile at their unity- a ghost of times past.

----------

"Sora!" Aoba said as soon as they entered his office. "Are you alright? I saw what happened last night, and I can't explain it! It was crazy!"

"Hello Shigeru," Sora replied with a tired smile. "I'm alright, you don't need to worry. I... think that things are going to be okay. These are the investors I mentioned on the phone..."

She gestured behind her as thirteen young adults followed her into the room; adults who Aoba recognised had been at the show.

"Ah, hello to you all!" he said, standing up from behind his wooden desk and making his way to them. He offered his hand, and Takeru took it after a moment, shaking it firmly.

"I'm glad," he said, "that you didn't lose interest after last night. You understand, of course, that there must have been a mistake in the plan somewhere..."

"Oh, of course," Tai replied quickly, standing just behind and to the right of his brother-in-law. "But we don't like to make hasty decisions you know, and I'm sure that we can find the problem and correct it."

The meaning behind his words was not lost on all of the Digidestined, because the smarter members of the group picked up on the small signals Tai was giving out- such as how he was staring right at Aoba as he spoke. But no one said anything about it, and the target of Tai's scrutiny certainly didn't notice.

"I'm sure we will, Mr. Kamiya, I'm sure we will. Well, I'll introduce myself to those of you who don't know me; my name is Shigeru Aoba, and I run this little factory here. We take designs from fashion designers, such as Miss Takenouchi, and turn them into wearable clothes."

As he spoke, Tai took the opportunity to take a look around the room. It was quite different, as offices go, with a lot of cultural decorations- mostly of Africa. There were tribal masks, headdresses, spears, shields made from stretched animal skin- the whole works. The walls and floor however were quite different, reverting back to the norm of the office. Pastel blue walls with deeper blue for the carpet, the furniture taking on a wood grain effect which looked a bit too artificial to be real. So, they were veneered, Tai assumed, which was appropriate for Aoba- many things look ugly beneath the surface. And near the main desk, was a cold grey filing cabinet.

He stayed that way for a few minutes, before Aoba's voice caught his attention. 

"Well, I'll take you for a look around, so you can see the place for yourselves. The workers are quite efficient, so please, try not to interrupt them."

Immediately, Davis looked at Tai, their eyes meeting. The older man nodded slightly, causing a mischievous grin to break out on the younger man's face.

Everything was going according to plan.

They left the office, following Aoba out into the small reception area (where the main entrance was located) and into a set of double doors, which led them into warehouse -the factory- itself. It was pretty large inside, arranged into a number of different departments dedicated to a certain task, such as cutting or sewing. The longhaired manager began to lead them around the factory floor in a clockwise direction, giving a running commentary on what was happening around them.

Tai followed, and like the rest of the group pretended to be interested in what he was being told. All he had to do was wait until Davis made his move- then the real fun would begin.

"This, is where we draw the bits onto the fabric," Aoba said as they entered a room built into one corner of the factory, where eight young women were standing by desks and drawing around templates onto large sheets of fabric with chalk. When they were all inside, he addressed the questioning looks of the workers. 

"Girls, we have some visitors here- say hello to some associates of Miss Takenouchi."

They all responded with various greetings, except for one 'geeky' looking girl who wore large glasses and had her hair pulled back into a lose ponytail. Instead, she looked down and remained silent.

It's odd, how silence can be so good at catching attention, and it quickly caught Davis'. Which was good, for the young lady in question was most certainly the nervous type- Tai could tell by how she was attempting valiantly not to appear to have noticed them.

"Hey, what are ya drawing?" Davis asked her, leaning over her shoulder. The girl stepped away quickly, looking quite surprised at the question, and stammered an answer.

"Erm, well, I- I'm drawing around this template..." She looked at Aoba nervously, then at Sora, then back to Davis. This caused Tai to frown slightly.

"Cool! Hey, I wish I could do something like that," Davis continued, either not realising how stupid he sounded or simply not caring, "but I was never good enough at drawing. Nah, gimme a spatula over a pencil any day! You see, I-"

"_Mister_ Motomiya, if you don't mind," Aoba interrupted, a little annoyed at the distraction to one of his workers (for less people working is less output, and less output is less cash), but Davis continued in his way.

"Hold yer horses Mr. Aoba! I was just being friendly, that's all."

As he spoke, Davis took a step back, and leaned on a conveniently large stack of templates. The stack, unable to take his weight, quickly began to topple and smashed down onto the floor.

"Oh my! I'm sorry," he continued, back-pedalling away from the mess of shaped paper- only to collide into another.

"Aw jeez! I'm really sorry about this-"

And another...

"Oh I am such a klutz-"

And another.

In the fresh chaos that he had just created (with oddly disturbing skill), Davis was able to glance towards the doorway from which they came, just in time to catch a glimpse of a dark green coat- clad figure disappearing through it and melting into the shadows.

----------

As he closed the door swiftly and silently behind him, Tai immediately began to move towards the only filing cabinet in the room. Once he arrived in front of it, he fell back upon the instincts he had developed upon his island and began to feel it, as though he did not understand what it was for, nor why it was so smooth; but it was something he had always done when faced with something unexpected, and helped him feel at ease.

Slowly, he brought one hand to the handle on the top drawer, and pulled- but nothing happened.

Tai frowned as his eyes became as hard as ice. He tried again, and received the same results.

The cabinet was locked. He should have expected this, really, and for that was quite angry with himself.

_'C'mon Taichi,'_ he thought,_ 'you've fought huge monsters and lived off a rock by yourself for years- surely you can beat a lock that's about the size of your thumb..."_

He wasn't certain that the documents he needed were in there however, but knowing his luck they would be. So, undeterred, Tai moved to the desk and began to look through the drawers for a certain item.

He couldn't hide his grin when he found what he needed- a small set of keys.

He took them out and began to try them in tern upon the silver lock at the top of the cabinet, being as quick as he dared without making too much of a noise. After all the receptionist, who was just outside in the main entrance, had been quite alert (he had used the classic technique of throwing a stone from a nearby potted plant across the room to distract her) and he didn't want to push his luck.

Eventually he found the right one, and unlocked the cabinet with an audible 'click'. He began to swiftly leaf through the numerous folders held within, and upon finding nothing relevant in the top drawer moved down to the next one.

Again, he found nothing, and were he as he was in his youth, he would be getting pretty annoyed by now. But, Taichi knew that to get results, he had to be patient and keep trying.

So he did, and in the third drawer down he found what he was looking for- a folder labelled 'Takenouchi, Sora'.

He pulled it out and laid it on Aoba's desk, briefly noticing how much it looked like a school file, and flicked through it to find what Sora had described to him after he had outlined the plan to the group a short time back. Eventually, he found it -or at least something that looked like it- about twenty pages stapled together, stamped with yesterday's date.

"This is it," Tai muttered, as though someone was in the room with him. He smiled at his achievement- it had been a while since he had done anything for himself. After all, the last thing had been to build his raft...

But that didn't matter right now, for he had what he needed- now, all he had to do was get back to the group before Aoba realised he was missing.

----------

"Hey," came a quiet voice from behind a certain walking blonde-haired rock star.

"Ahh! Jeez man, don't do that!" Matt replied, trying vainly to keep his voice quiet. He turned to face Tai, who had snuck up on him so quietly he had no idea he was there until he had spoken.

"Sorry," Taichi said dryly, obviously not really meaning it. "I need to speak with Sora."

"Oh, okay, how long do you think you'll need?"

"A couple of minutes. Give me as long as you can."

"Gotcha."

Matt sped up his pace, catching up with 'Aoba the tour guide' in a couple of strides, nodding slightly to Sora as he did so. She caught the look, and began to slow down, waving her right arm from below the elbow as she did so. As she was towards the front of the group, still following the factory manager, everyone but the guide saw the signal and knew what it meant.

Question time!

"So, uh," Matt said, starting off quickly, "what does that do?" He pointed to a random machine in their vicinity, which happened to be a sewing machine.

"Oh, it's a sewing machine," came the rather flat reply from Aoba. "It sews... you know?"

"Yeah, but does it sew well? You gotta have a good sewing machine. Can't sew without a good sewing machine," Yolei added. Everyone else, in almost perfect synchronisation, stroked their chins with thumb and forefinger and nodded sagely, as though some ancient knowledge had just been bestowed upon them.

"I can assure you, Miss, that the equipment here is of the finest quality."

"Needles too?" Izzy asked.

"What about the thread?" Mimi added.

"Hey, thread always makes me think of spaghetti, which reminds me, what's the cafeteria like here?" Davis said, ignoring the look of annoyance he received form Aoba.

As the pointless, and some would say ridiculous, distracting questions were let lose upon the hapless warehouse owner, Tai moved closer to Sora.

"Here," he said, pulling out a folded wad of paper from his deep coat pocket, "Is this it?"

She took the sheets and began to flick through them, her brow furrowing in concentration.

"Yeah," she replied absently, "this is it..."

She soon sped up in her movements, expression becoming a mixture of confusion and anger. Tai waited patiently for a conclusion from the girl, looking up occasionally to see how the gang was going. To be honest, he was becoming amused by their efforts, for by now Aoba was looking quite spaced out.

"Tai..." Sora eventually said, still looking at the documents, "These- my designs, they've been changed... It's no wonder they fell apart!" She looked up at him, sadness clear in her eyes, but he made no movement to comfort her. He just stared back, his brown eyes empty of all emotion.

"Alright," he eventually replied, taking the paperwork back form her. "You're certain?"

"Yes... the measurements, the material, they've been altered slightly... What are you going to do?" She began to shake.

Tai didn't answer her question, but instead simply said quietly,

"Let's carry on. Pretend nothing has happened."

His voice rose in volume as he addressed the whole group, who were still throwing out completely random questions.

"People, please, the questions can wait till later. Remember, we have other appointments...?" The all fell silent, and Shigeru looked at him gratefully. "Lead on, Mr. Aoba."

"Of course, Mr. Kamiya. This way everyone, if you please..."

The man led them around for a short time, but they soon found themselves going back into his office, the tour apparently over. And it was there that Tai decided that he ought to make his move, for he felt that if he didn't soon, the Sora would- and that wouldn't be pretty. Besides, he didn't think that she knew, or at least understood completely how she had been made a fool of for the last few years.

As Aoba talked to the group about the miscellaneous details which he had forgotten to cover during the tour, Tai walked slowly around the room and observed the African-like décor once more. The tribal masks were very interesting (he'd always thought them to be a little scary), and now he felt that he could truly admire the workmanship involved in hand making them to such a high standard.

But they weren't what he was really looking for- and it didn't take long for him to find his quarry.

"Mr. Aoba", he said when he judged he was close enough and when the man had stopped talking for a moment, "I'm sorry for asking such a forward question, but is your company... trustworthy?"

The longhaired man blinked.

"Of course," he replied, "...shouldn't it be?"

Tai barely restrained himself from smirking when he noticed the pause and the way that his eyes flickered around the room.

'Liar.'

"Well could you explain to me then, why have you been altering Sora's designs?"

The man was smarter than he looked; Tai gave him that, for he immediately picked up on his use of Sora's first name (thus meaning that he knew her as more than just an acquaintance). He could see it in his eyes. And, he also knew that he had been found out.

"I-I- I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Kamiya!" he spluttered.

"Yeah? Well, how do you explain this?" he said, as he pulled out the papers taken from the filing cabinet and held them up for all to see. "These have been altered. Sora tells me so. They have been changed so that they will fall apart when used. Isn't that right?"

"What?! No! Why would I do such a thing?"

"Because you are under payment from Kirishima. Why else?"

There were some gasps around the room. Tai suddenly found all eyes on him, questioning, so he explained.

"At the concert, I saw you receiving money from her for 'altering the designs', as you put it. It looked like quite a sum, too... But, you know, that's the trouble with the world today, isn't it? Everything revolves around money."

The Digidestined immediately turned from a group of apparent businessmen and women into a pack of _very_ pissed off young adults.

"What!?" Mimi screeched. "You _bastard!_ How _dare_ you!"

Eleven of the others followed her lead, leaving only Sora out, who remained quiet as she watched Aoba. Tai took the opportunity as attention was taken away from him to move back towards his target. No one noticed.

"I don't have to take these accusations!" Aoba eventually shouted as he broke away from the Digidestined, backed up against a wall though he was. "Takenouchi!" he continued, "you can consider our partnership over! I will not take this _abuse_ from _kids _like you!" He raised arms in anger above his head and moved towards the door. "Good day!"

And with that, he made his way towards the doorway. The Digidestined were prepared to stop him of course, and were about to, but suddenly the necessity of doing so became irrelevant.

**THUNK!**

The room fell completely silent as a hunting spear, being thrown like a harpoon, shot just under Aoba's armpit, caught some of his shirt, and impaled itself into the wall- effectively pinning the longhaired man there.

Very slowly, as if expecting another spear to appear at any moment, everyone turned to see Taichi standing across the room, with a display of two spears (one of which was missing), and a skin shield behind him.

Tai himself was holding a position like a Javelin thrower- his right arm was extended, as though he were reaching out for something, whilst his torso twisted so that his left leg was bent in front of his right. Slowly, a frown appeared on his face –though what that was directed at, no one could tell, because his eyes were unfocused as he did so- and he stood to his full height.

His coat only made him seem taller.

He strode forward, feet thumping on the ground and seeming to echo in the quiet of the room. When he stood right before Aoba, he slammed both hands into the wall at either side of his head and brought himself face-to-face with the other.

"Mr. Aoba..." he said quietly, voice laced with danger, "I know you are lying. Your panic says it all really- we've figured you out. So let's stop this little charade, shall we?"

The ex-castaway's eyes bored into the man before him.

"Tell us what is going on. Now."

The older man was absolutely terrified.

"She, she paid me to make the dresses faulty so that Takenouchi would go out of business and she would take over and get rid of her rivals and become the best and she has been paying me for years now but I didn't want to do it honest but I had to pay of my collage debts and my mortgage on this place but I didn't mean to hurt her or anything I swear I'm a nice guy really please don't kill me I don't want to die!!!"

Tai blinked. He had never heard anyone talk so fast.

"Alright, alright, shut up."

"Please don't kill me!"

"O-KAY! I'm not going to kill you!"

The pitiful blubbering mass that was Aoba slumped against the wall, still pinned, but obviously a little relieved.

"But," Tai continued as he gestured to his right, "she might."

Aoba followed his pointing finger, only to come into eye contact with Sora, who looked so angry that one might have thought that Tai had been sick in her hat and not told her. Again.

As Aoba looked back at him with pleading eyes, Tai gave him a small smile.

"But I think that's for her to decide, right? Come on, everyone- we should leave the two of them to sort this out alone.

"Goodbye, Mr. Aoba. This has been... interesting."

And with that, the ex-castaway spun on his heel and marched out of the office. The Digidestined followed him shortly thereafter, but not before taking turns to glare at the man pinned to the wall, and soon, only Sora was left with him.

They gathered in the car park, all looking at Taichi with a mixture of fear and wonder.

"Where did you learn to do that?!" Davis abruptly asked him.

"Oh, uh, fishing," he replied, as if nothing had happened not five minutes before. "I had a lot of time to practice on the island, but I'm a bit off..."

"Off? Tai, you hit him _perfectly_!" Matt almost shouted, trying to get some form of reaction from his leader.

"Nah," he said as he began to rub his right –gloved- palm absently. "I was aiming for his groin."

Tai looked back at the office, calmly, with a thoughtful expression on his face, utterly oblivious to how all the males around him winced and bent over slightly.

"What do you think Sora's going to do, Tai?" Kari asked, eyeing the pained expression on her husbands face. Tai shrugged in response.

"Dunno. I don't think that she would _really_ hurt him, I mean, she is the Bearer of Love and all-"

This time, it was he who was cut off as the sound of an almighty slap came from the building, and caused _all_ of them to wince. Tai raised his eyebrows after a moment and sighed.

"'Course, I could be wrong..."

----------

"What's with the leg?"

Tai blinked as the voice filtered through to his mind, and raised his eyes from their observance of a large, spidery crab leg to see who had been asking the question.

"Uh, nothing, Takeru," he replied to the boy sitting to his right at the rather large dinner table as he dropped the object in question onto his plate. "Just remembering... Just a couple of weeks ago, I was eating this stuff a lot..."

"Well that can't have been so bad, I mean, you've gotta love crab!"

Tai smiled softly, an expression which looked strange on his ruined face.

"It tends to lose its appeal after about three years."

After their victory at Aoba's warehouse, their had been a need felt to celebrate, and so they had headed to this rather fancy restaurant. The idea was that they would all contribute to the bill which no doubt would be quite large; but odds were that in the end, it would be Matt who paid for most of it, seeing as he had so much money anyway thanks to his profession.

After a suitably large table had been put together for the group, they had chosen a buffet meal and had been given quite a choice- though, much to Tai's chagrin, it had mainly consisted of seafood. And he had already had enough of that to last him a lifetime.

Still, he could eat crab. He liked eating crab. Or rather, he was _proud_ of the thought of eating it, even if he did find it tasteless nowadays- the point of the matter was that he had taught himself how to get it. And the way that his right hand suddenly twitched reminded him that he had done quite a lot to prepare it, too.

He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at how people took all of this food for granted, though. Just like they did with the room, the warmth inside it, and even the lighting. He had had to provide all of that himself, and not expect anyone to do it for him.

That was what he had been thinking of, until TK had broken him out of it. And for that, he supposed, he ought to be thankful.

"Hey," Tai asked, gesturing across the table towards a grinning Davis, "what's he so happy about?"

"Same as the rest of us, you know, that we won?"

"He was acting that way before we left Aoba's place, though."

"...oh right! Heh, he swapped numbers with that worker you know, the one he talked to."

"When he made that mess?"

"Yeah, the young girl, with the glasses."

Tai laughed quietly and reached for his glass of water. "If I didn't know better," he said, "I'd think he was related to Matt. Must have been pretty smooth about it to pull that one off, right?"

"She was about to die from embarrassment when he asked her about it."

Tai made to reply when a voice caught the attention of the whole group.

"Guys, c'mon, quiet down, we need to sort this out," Matt said, leaning over the table. "We have to figure out what to do now, right Tai?"

"That's right."

"Okay, so, uh, what's the move?"

"Well I guess I should look for a new manufacturer," Sora said, her voice filled with a small sense of satisfaction. "Someone who isn't going to mess me around."

"Yeah! And we can all help ya, right Tai?" Davis said excitedly.

"Actually... I have a different idea," Tai replied, just before taking a sip of water.

There was a pause, then Davis continued,

"Y'mean we're gonna give someone else an ass-whoopin'?"

"Well... not really, but the first thing we should do here is learn from our mistakes."

"Tai, you sound like Izzy," Matt said, causing the group to laugh. Tai remained quiet though, but looked mildly amused nonetheless. "What makes you say that?" he continued.

Taichi looked directly at the blonde rock star, wondering how he should explain. He was reluctant, of course, but it was like Joe had said- he had to prove that he was worthy of their respect and trust.

So... He told them how he had learned as best he could.

"Have you ever tried to open a coconut?"

----------

**Thump.**

_In the east, a young man blinked at the unexpected noise._

_He stood, slowly, and turned away from the sea to face the palm trees behind him. His eyes narrowed as he wondered at what it was, and as no answers came to him, he began to get a little nervous. Because, he didn't know where he was. He had been stuck on this beach for a few days, and had had no time to explore due to his immediate need to find food- as such had no idea whether he was on the mainland or not._

_Which meant that he didn't know anything about the local wildlife._

_His muscles tensed, ready for a fight, and he waited to see what –if anything- would appear._

_However any ideas of a lion or tiger leaping from the trees and trying to eat him were dashed as-_

**_Thump._**

****

_-something landed right next to him._

_The brown-haired youth frowned, and knelt down to see what exactly it was. He was soon presented with a deep green sphere-shaped object, about the size of a football, though it was something that took him a moment to recognise._

_"A... coconut?" he said, more out of necessity just to hear a voice than to let anyone else know._

_He gave a small smile. Perfect- a coconut would provide a source of food as well as a clean drink._

He took a little while to gather a few more, carrying them by using his blue trench coat like a sack, and dumped them near to a large black volcanic rock. Then he took one and, after tossing it around in his hands like it was a football, threw it as hard as he could at the stone wall.

There was no noticeable change to the outer husk, so he tried again.

And again.

And again.

Driven by hunger and thirst, he did this for over half an hour.

Getting increasingly frustrated at his lack of progress, the young man took the coconut in his hands and began to hammer with it at the wall in an attempt to shatter it. But that just seemed to make even less progress, and it was tiring too, so he switched to a rock protruding from the ground, one which rose up into a very blunt point. 

He knelt down in front of it and began to hack down with the big green ball, getting angrier and more frustrated as he did so. Again, nothing happened. So next, he tried bracing it against a rock that had a cup-shape in it, so that it remained still as he attacked it. Then he looked for a smaller rock.

Once he felt that the stone he held was suitable to the task, he began to smash it down upon the object of his annoyance with all his might. 

_Naturally, he was quite surprised when after his fourth strike, the volcanic stone fell apart in his hand like slate._

_Still, his persistence appeared to have paid off when he realised that the remaining fragment he held was sharp- like a knife, or an axe head. _

_The young man stared in surprise at his good fortune –it was about damn time something went his way- then bit his lip and started hacking away with his new tool._

_It cut well, bringing out a small smile on his face, and he began to carve grooves down its length at certain places around it, creating a number of handholds. After a while, he grabbed one and pulled. It took a while, but eventually the green husk came away to reveal the classic image of a coconut- a small and hairy brown ball._

_His face exploded into a full-blown grin at his accomplishment. He'd done it! He had a clean drink, at last!_

_Now he just needed to open it, so he took the easiest method available. With a grunt, he brought it down sharply onto the blunt grounded rock._

_His grin didn't last long as the coconut split neatly in half, causing him to lose almost all of the milk inside. He managed to catch the last few drops in his mouth, but it was barely anything (besides, the shape of the piece made it hard to drink from anyway) and thus, not enough to satisfy him._

_As the waste of effort hit him, he threw his half of the coconut down in disgust. But getting angry wouldn't help- he could only learn from his mistakes._

_So, he tried once more, using the working techniques he had learnt. And after he had managed to get a hairy brown ball again, he tried something different using the fragments of volcanic rock, which were quickly becoming his makeshift toolkit._

_He took a piece which came into a long thin point and began to tap it in with another rock like a chisel. When he judged that it had gone in deep enough, he twisted it back and fourth and pulled, as if he were trying to open a bottle of wine. It popped out- and he downed all of the coconut milk in one._

----------

"So you see," Tai said after he had finished his little story, "like I did with the coconut, we have to learn from what went wrong. In your case Sora, it was relying on someone to do such crucial work for you."

Everyone looked at him in wonder, surprised that he had told them about part of his life struggling for survival. He had been so reluctant before, yet he had done so to achieve a goal here and to make his point clear; as such, no one doubted that he had given his plans a lot of thought.

"What shall we do?" Matt asked, smiling at the group's leader like he had a close friend back.

"Easy. We're going to do the work ourselves."

There were a few gasps around the table, and a number more grins. 

"Is this is why you wanted us around?" Izzy asked. Tai nodded in reply.

"Like I said earlier, I don't know how long it will take, it depends on how things go. But you will all need to help in some way if this is going to work, and don't expect to be paid a lot for your troubles. If you want to drop out, now's the time to say so."

There was no reply, which brought out a bright smile on Sora's face at how the group –her friends- were rallying to help her. Despite the heartache of the last few weeks since he had been found, she couldn't be more thankful of Tai's return.

Then, Davis spoke. She initially felt saddened when he did, assuming the worst, but then realised what exactly he was doing in the process.

"You gave these to me once, Tai, 'cause you thought that I should be leader..." he said as he pulled Tai's old goggles from his head. "But I'm not cut out for it. They should stay where they belong. Here... they belong with our real leader."

Tai blinked in surprise, then slowly reached across the dining table and took the blue item from his younger friend. He looked at them for a long time, not uttering a word, as if he were debating something with himself.

A cheer went up from the Digidestined, including Jun and Katie, as Taichi Kamiya put on his goggles once more.

----------


End file.
